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THE LIBRARY OF CHOICE FICTION 


QUEEN OF 

THE WOODS 


ANDRE THEURIET 


TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH BY 

HENRIETTA E. MILLER 


,oV OF 

i . • I y ' ■> 1 . 

CHICAGO ' ^ ^ 

Laird & Lee Publishers 
1891 


Entered according to act of Congress in the year eighteen hundred and 
ninety-one by Laird & Lee in the ofl&ce of the Librarian 
of Congress at Washington 


QUEEN OF THE WOODS 


I 

Toward the middle of October, in the beech- 
nutting season, M. Eustache Destourbet, justice 
of the peace for Auberive, accompanied by his 
registrar, Etienne Seurrot, set out for the castle 
of Vivey. In 1857 there was only one road lead- 
ing from Auberive to Vive}", and that lay through 
the forest. 

Justice Destourbet, endowed with vigorous 
limbs, climbed the steep paths nimbly, his tall, 
spare form enveloped in a brown cloak. M Seur- 
rot, of a more portly build, followed his compan- 
ion with difficulty, panting and perspiring. Com- 
passionately from time to time the justice stopped 
to await his subordinate. 

"I hope," said M. Destourbet, as he and M. 
Seurrot walked side by side "that we shall find 


8 QIJEEN OF THE IVOODS 

M. Arbillot at the castle for we shall require 
his services.” 

The notary will meet us there. He has gone 
to Praslay to see if M. de Buxieres did not make 
a deposition to some brother-lawyer. In my hum- 
ble opinion it is doubtful, for the deceased had 
great confidence in M. Arbillot and it would seem 
singular should he have chosen another notary to 
draw up his last will and testament.” 

“When the seals are broken,” observed the 
justice, “perhaps we may discover a holographic 
will in some corner.” 

“I wish it might be so, sir,” replied Seurrot, 
“for the sake of Claude Séjournant who is a 
fine fellow.” 

“And an excellent shot," continued the justice. 
“I remember him. But had the Great Huntsman,* 
as he is called by all in the vicinity, a hundred 
other accomplishments, he would still be at a 
disadvantage if M. de Buxieres died intestate. 
In the eyes of the law, as you know, a natural 
child has no claims.” 

“M. de Buxieres treated Claudet as his son and 


QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 9 

did not conceal the fact that he was his father." 

"Possibly — but if the law were to keep account 
of all the illegitimate offspring, it would have its 
hands full, especially in this case, for M. Oudart 
de Buxieres is said to have had more children 
than one." 

"He, he! "acquiesced the registrar with a smile 
which disclosed his toothless gums, "there may 
be truth in that. The late lord was possessed 
with a devil. He could see neither a roe-buck 
nor a pretty maiden beneath his trees without 
giving chase! Ah, yes, he had his day! But 
that does not matter, Claudet was his favorite 
and M. de Buxieres told me twenty times that 
he would make him his heir. Therefore I shall 
be very much astonished if we do not find a 
will." 

"Seurrot, my friend," said the justice phlegm 
matically, "you have had too much experience 
not to know that our rustics do not fear anything 
as much as the drawing-up of a will; for them 
it is like putting one foot in the grave. They 
do not sumfnon the priest and the lawyer until 


10 QUEEN OF THE JVOODS 

the last moment, and frequently they summon 
them too late. In this respect the deceased was 
a rustic and I am very much afraid that he did 
not put his project into execution.” 

"It would be a pity if the castle, the lands and 
all the fortune were to go to an heir whom M. 
Oudart did not even know, to a Buxieres of the 
junior branch whom he never saw, not having 
been on friendly terms with the family." 

"A cousin, I believe?” asked the justice. 

"Yes, a M. Julien de Buxieres who is in the 
government employ at Nancy." 

"In short he is the only legitimate heir as far 
as we know. Has he been informed of the fact?” 

"Yes, sir. He has even sent power of attorney 
to M. Arbillot’s clerk.” 

"So much the better, ” said M. Destourbet, "then 
we can proceed without delay.” 

As they thus conversed they traversed the for- 
est and passed out on to the slope which over- 
looks Vivey. From that spot the}^ could see 
through the leafless aspen trees, the sinuous 
gorge of the Aubette at the end of which rose 


QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 


11 


the village against a background of perpendicular 
rocks. Two strips of meadow-land extended 
from each side of the stream to the orchards be- 
yond which rose the dwelling of the Buxieres 
behind the massive verdure of tall ash trees. 
This magnificent group of trees and a monument- 
al gate of iron alone justified the name of ^castle* 
given to a very plain building, the main portion 
of which was flanked by two towers resembling 
dove-cotes. This castle had been the property 
of the Oudart de Buxieres for more than two 
centuries. Before the Revolution, Christophe 
de Buxieres, grandfather of the Buxieres just 
deceased, owned a large part of the forest of 
Vivey, besides several forges established on the 
Aube and the Aubette. He had three children, 
a daughter, an elder son, Claude Antoine, to 
whom he left all his fortune, and a younger son, 
Julien Abdon, an officer in the regiment of Rohan- 
Soubise, with whom he had had a rupture. After 
serving in Conde’ s army, the younger Buxieres re- 
turned to France about the time of the Restora- 
tion. He married, and the government ap- 


12 QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

pointed him “receiver" in a small town in the south. 
Julien Abdon did not renew his relations with 
his brother whom he accused of having treated 
him unjustly. The elder Buxieres had married 
a Rochetaillee, his only issue being a son, Claude 
Oudart de Buxieres, whose recent death was the 
cause of the visit of the justice and his clerk 
from Auberive. 

Claude de Buxieres spent his entire life at 
Vivey. In addition to a strong constitution and 
excellent health, he inherited from his father and 
his grandfather, a love of his native soil, a pas- 
sionate fondness for the chase and a horror of 
the constraint and decorum imposed by worldly 
exigences. Indulged when a child by a weak 
mother and a preceptor who only succeeded in 
giving him the most elementary instruction, he 
very early in life followed his own plan of con- 
duct. Living side by side with peasants and 
poachers, he had himself become a rustic, wear- 
ing a blouse, supping at taverns and talking the 
mountain patois more readily than French. 

The premature death of his father, killed in 


QUEEh! OF THE IVOODS 13 

the chase by an awkward huntsman, had com- 
pletely emancipated him at twenty years of age. 

From that time he led the life that best suited 
him — life in the open air without fetters of any 
kind. None of the stories told of him were ex- 
aggerated. Lashed by the fury of his hereditary 
blood, hemever saw a woman without becoming 
infatuated, and as he was handsome, jovial and 
generous, he met with very little cruel treatment. 
Married women, maids, or widows were sought 
after by him alike. Marriage alone could have 
curbed him. His reputation naturally made 
ladies of good breeding shun him, while he him- 
self dreaded the regular monotony of conjugal 
life. He did not care to bind himself to one bill 
of fare, preferring, he said, to eat his food now 
roasted, now boiled, now broiled, according to 
his fancy and his appetite. When, however, he 
reached the age of twenty-six, it was remarked 
that he had become more sedate in his habits. 

The chase remained his favorite pastime, but 
he rarely spent a night away from home and 
seemed to take more interest in his domestic life. 


14 QUEEh! OF THE IVOODS 

Some attributed the change to his approaching 
maturity, others more perspicacious affirmed 
that the revolution in Claudels habits dated from 
the appearance of a new servant at the castle. 
The girl, a native of Aprey, named Manette Sé- 
journant, was not strictly speaking a beauty, but 
she had magnificent, golden hair, soft, gray eyes 
and a musical ring in her voice. Well-built, as 
lithe as a snake, with a very demure air, she 
served and cared for her master so faithfully, 
that he was drawn by her influence from the tav- 
ern bar-room to the castle-kitchen. She finally 
gained such an ascendancy over him that he 
thought her superior to any of his associates. 
Matters progressed so well that at the end of the 
first year, Manette disappeared for three months ; 
when she returned she brought with her a baby 
six weeks old which she represented as the son 
of a sister who had died, though the child bore 
a striking resemblance to Claude. M. de Bux- 
ieres himself held the child at the baptismal 
font. Later on he gave him in charge of Abbe 
Pernot, the priest of Vivey, who prepared Claudet 


QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 15 

for his first communion, at the same time instruct- 
ing him in reading, writing and arithmetic. 

When Manette^s son was fifteen, Claude put 
a gun in his hand and took him to the woods. 
Claudet did his teacher credit and soon became 
a frequenter of the forest, capable of giving 
points to all the poachers in the canton. His 
equal in training a dog could not be found. He 
knew all the paths in the forests, he pounced 
upon game with the scent and keenness of a bird 
of prey and he never failed to hit his mark. He 
was nevertheless a handsome boy, alert, well- 
built, with brown hair and an olive complexion 
like all the Buxieres; he had his mother* s soft 
eyes and yet there was in them a certain wildness 
at times which reminded one of his father from 
whom he inherited a passionate temper and a 
spirit which rebelled at the least opposition. 
He was a favorite in the neighborhood, and M. de 
Buxieres, feeling his life renewed in him, was 
very proud of his cleverness and his handsome 
appearance. He included him in his pleasure 
parties, he accorded him a seat at his table, he 


16 QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

voluntarily confided in him his secrets. Claudet 
naturally considered himself a member of the 
family. Although he was indeed such, the for- 
mality of legal recognition was lacking. Occasion- 
ally Manette Séjournant insisted that that form 
be gone through. To which M. de Buxieres, 
who disliked intrusting his affairs to a lawyer, 
invariably replied: 

“Do not worry. I have no direct heir, and 
Claudet will have my entire fortune; my will 
shall do much better for him than an acknowl- 
edgment would.” 

He talked so frequently and so frankly of his 
intention of appointing Claudet his sole heir that 
Manette, unversed in the requirements of the law, 
looked upon the matter as already settled. 

In his sixty second year Claude de Buxieres 
died suddenly of apoplexy. Did the will, which 
was to assure the future of Claudet and to which 
the deceased had so many times alluded, exist 
in reality? Neither Manette nor Claudet had 
been able to ascertain, their hasty search after 
the death occurred having been brusquely inter- 


QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 


17 


rupted by the arrival of the mayor of Vivey and 
by the operations of the justice of the peace who 
had affixed the seals; so the Séjournants awaited 
the return of the justice and his registrar with 
feverish impatience. 

M. Destourbet and Etienne Seurrot pushed 
open a small gate to the right of the large one, 
passed beneath the archway of ash trees, whose 
foliage nipped by the frost was already falling 
from the branches, and hastily ascending the steps 
they entered the hall. This large corridor divided 
the ground floor into two parts — to the right were 
the dining-room and kitchen, to the left, the 
drawing-room and billiard-hall. A stone staircase 
in one of the towers led to the upper stories. Of 
the four rooms below, the kitchen which the 
justice and his clerk entered was occupied by 
guests. Opposite the open door sat M. Arbillot 
on a stool, lighting his pipe by a brand, while 
his chief clerk, seated before the table, was mak- 
ing a rough draught of the inventory. In the 
corner opposite the fire-place, a youth of about 

four and twenty, who was no other than Claudet, 
Queen of the Woods — 2 


18 QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

was playing absently with the silken ears of a 
spaniel whose head rested on his knees. Behind 
him Manette Séjournant was putting her shawl 
and prayer-book into a cupboard. 

That morning at church mass had been said for 
the soul of Claude de Buxieres, and mother and 
son had donned their Sunday clothes in order to 
assist at the ceremony. 

Claudet seemed ill at ease in his black redin- 
gote; keeping his eyes cast down, he replied to 
the notary’s questions in monosyllables and from 
time to time passed his fingers through his thick 
brown hair and beard — an indication of preoccu- 
pation and ill humor. 

As she advanced in years Manette had become 
so corpulent that the supple outlines whose beauty 
had delighted Claude de Buxieres, had entirely 
disappeared. None of her former charms re- 
mained but her soft eyes, her abundant golden 
hair, her white teeth and her coaxing voice. 

"Good morning, gentlemen,” cried M. Arbillot, 
"I have been awaiting you impatiently. If agree- 
able to you we will set to work at once, for at 


QUEEr^ OF THE fVOODS 


19 


this season of the year the days draw in quickly.” 

”As you wish, M. Arbillot,” replied the jus- 
tice, carefully placing his hat on the window- 
ledge. “We will prepare the official report. 
Has no will been found yet?” 

“None to my knowledge. It is clear to me that 
the deceased did not make a will — at least not 
before a notary." 

"But,” objected M. Destourbet, "he might 
have drawn one up himself.” 

"I am certain he did, gentlemen,” interrupted 
Manette in her plaintively, sweet voice; "the 
poor man did not die without leaving his affairs 
in order. ^Manette,’ said he to me not more 
than two weeks ago, *I do not wish you to be 
worried, neither you nor Claudet, when I am no 
longer here. All shall be settled to your satis- 
faction.^ I am positive that he put his last 
wishes on paper. Search carefully, sirs, you will 
find a will in some drawer.” 

While she made use of her handkerchief with 
a great deal of bluster and wiped her eyes, the 
justice conferred with the notary. 


20 QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

"You undoubtedly agree with me, M. Arbillot, 
that we should commence our operations by an 
examination of the furniture in the bed-room?” 

The notary bowed and bade his clerk carry 
his papers to the first-floor. 

"Show us the way, Madame," said the justice 
to the housekeeper, and the four officers of the 
law followed in the wake of Manette. Claudet, 
when the men disappeared, advanced several 
paces, then halted, wavering between the desire 
to assist in the search and the fear of being con- 
sidered impudent. The notary, who had re- 
turned, noticed his hesitation and said to him : 

"Come, Claudet, are you not guardian of the 
seals? ” 

In silence they mounted the stairs. Manette, 
opening noiselessly the door of the deceased’s 
chamber, entered softly as if she were in a church, 
then she opened the blinds, and the after- 
noon sun shone upon a room decorated and 
furnished in the style of the eighteenth century. 
Not far from the writing-table stood the 
bed. As soon as the door was closed, the clerk 


QUEEh! OF THE IVOODS 21 

settled himself at a table with his book and 
began to read rapidly. From the confusion of 
words several phrases could be distinguished: 
“Castle Vivey. . . .deceased the eighth of October 
last.. ..application of Marie Julien de Buxieres, 
controller of taxes at Nancy.. ..qualified to style 
himself heir of Claude Oudart de Buxieres, his 
second cousin." At the last phrase Claudet 
made a brusque gesture of surprise. 

“The inventory," explained M. Arbillot, “is 
made at the request of the sole heir to whom 
must be delivered the possessions of the de- 
ceased." 

A pause ensued, broken only by a plaintive 
sigh from Manette, then by the breaking open 
of the seals on the bureau and the examination 
of the drawers and sets of pigeon-holes by the 
justice and his clerk. 

Oudart de Buxieres was not much of a scrib- 
bler. An almanac, a memorandum-book in 
which he jotted down the selling price of his 
sections of forest and the dates of the rents paid 
by his farmers, a note-book in which he care- 


22 QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

fully kept account of the number of pieces of 
game shot each day — was all that the bureau 
contained. 

"Let us pass on to another," murmured the jus- 
tice. 

Manette and Claudet remained impassive. 
They might have known beforehand what the 
papers found in the drawers contained, for 
their faces expressed neither surprise nor disap- 
pointment. 

The search in a chest of drawers led to no 
better results. They next turned their attention 
to the secretary, and when, after turning the key 
twice in the lock, the door slowly opened, the 
faces of mother and son up to that time impas- 
sive, assumed an anxious expression. The clerk 
searched every drawer scrupulously under the 
watchful eye of the justice and found papers of 
merely trifling value — old titles to property, let- 
ters, and so forth. As the last drawer was 
opened, Etienne Seurrot suddenly uttered a 
significant "Ah," which caused the justice and the 
notary to prick up their ears, while Manette and 


QUEEN OF THE ÏVOODS 23 

her son started. In the rosewood drawer lay a 
sheet of paper at the head of which were writ- 
ten. these words: 

“This is my will.” 

With a wry face and a shake of his head, the 
justice communicated to his two companions the 
substance of the matter which Claude Oudart de 
Buxieres had transmitted to paper in his bold 
handwriting. It was as follows: 

“Not knowing my next of kin and not caring to 
know them, I give and bequeath all my estate, 
movable and immovable — ” 

The testator had stopped there, either because 
before continuing he wished to consult some one 
more experienced than himself, or else having 
been interrupted he postponed to another day the 
completion of his last will. 

M. Destourbet having read so far, cried anx- 
iously: “M. de Buxieres has not finished; that is 
too bad!” 

“Can it be possible?” exclaimed the house- 
keeper; “do you think then, sir, that Claudet will 
inherit nothing?” 


24 QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

''According to my ideas,” he replied; ''we have 
here nothing but a scrap of paper with no impor- 
tance attached to it. The legatee is not named 
and even had it been, this will would not be valid 
since it is neither dated nor signed.” 

"Perhaps M. de Buxieres wrote another?” 

"I do not think so. I am almost inclined to 
believe that he did not have time to complete 
the arrangements he wished to make, for as proof 
we find this unfinished document in the only 
piece of furniture in which he kept his papers.” 

Then turning to the notary and the clerk, he 
said: 

"You are without doubt, gentlemen, of my 
opinion; we will therefore defer the breaking of 
the other seals until the arrival of the legal heir. 
M. Arbillot, M. Julien de Buxieres must be 
notified and asked to repair to Vivey as soon as 
possible.” 

"I will write this evening,” replied the notary. 

"In the meantime the care of the seals will be 
intrusted to Claudet Séjournant.” 

The justice bowed to Manette who stood at the 


QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 25 

foot of the bed, pale and motionless. The regis- 
trar and clerk, after having collected their pa- 
pers, shook hands sympathetically with Claudet. 

"I am very sorry,” said the notary in his turn, 
"for what has happened. But if you have no 
legal, you have moral rights, and I hope that the 
heir will have a sufficient sense of justice to treat 
you fairly." 

"I shall ask nothing of him!” muttered Claudet 
between his teeth, and leaving his mother to ac- 
company the officers of the law to the door, he 
retired to his room— next to that of the deceased — 
laid aside his redingote, put on a hunting-jacket, 
gaiters, and an old felt hat and descended to the 
kitchen where he found Manette crouching over 
the embers, her head between her hands, weeping. 
Since she had become mistress of M. de Buxieres* 
establishment, she had endeavored to be more 
refined in her speech, and only spoke French, but 
in that moment of despair the rude dialect of her 
native province rushed to her lips and she railed 
against her dead lord- 

"The miserable man! I told him often enough 


26 QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

he would leave us in want! Where will we now 
obtain food? We shall have to beg from door 
to door." 

"Nonsense, mother," interrupted Claudet 
sharply; then placing his hand upon her shoul- 
der, he said: "Calm yourself ! As long as I have 
the use of my hands, we shall never become beg- 
gars! I am going out now — I need the air!" 

He crossed the gardens to the outskirts of the 
woods. The sky, which all morning had been 
obscured, was clearing; the rays of the sun burst 
through the mist lighting now the fields, now the 
forest glades; that fitful illumination gave to the 
landscape a spring-like splendor; the songs of the 
robin-redbreast and the tiny pink flowers dotted 
over the meadows aided the illusion. Those 
parts remaining in shadow had a no less brilliant 
coloring — there was the brownish purple hue of 
the wild pear trees, the ruddy glow of the cherry 
trees and the pale yellow of the sycamores. Over 
this landscape lay the calmness of solitude, of 
religious meditation. The forest of old trees 
seemed to sleep, and the rustling of the breezes 


QUEEN OF THE H^OODS 27 

through their branches resembled unconscious 
sighs breathed in dreams. Even the peculiar, 
autumnal odors were in subtle harmony with 
the surroundings. 

At times voices could be heard in the distance, 
and among the brushwood the sound of branches 
beaten down by invisible hands. The women 
were gathering beech-nuts. When the fruit of 
the trees was abundant, the gathering of nuts 
brought into the woods all the women and chil- 
dren who collected those triangular seeds from 
which excellent oil could be extracted. 

As he walked slowly along, Claudet suddenly 
came upon large white cloths spread at the foot 
of the trees and upon their snowy whiteness, 
brown heaps of gathered nuts. Occasionally he 
heard a familiar voice, but as he did not feel dis- 
posed to talk, he hastily fled into the underwood 
to avoid the intruders. The event so little 
anticipated which was to change his entire life, 
was of such recent date that he could not face it 
calmly. He felt as if he had received a blow 
and had been stunned. He had not yet been able 


28 QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

to reconcile himself to the stern reality. He sur- 
prised himself, vaguely hoping that all could be 
arranged. With bowed head, his hands in his 
pockets, he passed into an old forest road in 
which the grass had grown thickly among the 
stones, and in the distance through the scant 
foliage of the interlaced boughs, he saw the out- 
lines of a feminine form. 

Clad in a gray woolen skirt and a bodice of the 
same material, her arms bared to the elbows and 
raised to steady a sack full of nuts she was carry- 
ing upon her head, the young girl advanced toward 
him with an elastic, rhythmical step. The man- 
ner in which she carried her burden displayed the 
suppleness of her form, the graceful curves of her 
bosom and her throat ; she was not very tall, but 
she was well proportioned. As she approached, 
an oblique ray of the setting sun gilded the 
masses of her hair. Claudet aroused from his 
reverie by the sound of footsteps, recognized the 
daughter of M. Vincart, the owner of La 
Thuiliere. Just as he raised his head, the young 
girl, no doubt fatigued by the weight of her 


QUEEJ^ OF THE ÏVOODS 29 

burden, rested it upon the ground and stopped 
to take breath. In a trice, Claudet was beside 
her. 

"Good evening, Reine,” said he gently; "will 
you allow me to assist you.” 

"Good evening, Claudet,” she replied. "I can- 
not refuse so kind an offer. The sack was 
heavier than I thought it would be.” 

"Have you gone far like this?” 

"No; our people are nutting in the woods; I 
am returning home because I do not like to leave 
my father alone any longer, and I thought I 
would carry back with me what I had gathered.” 

"You cannot be reproached for shirking work, 
Reine, nor for fearing to put your hand to any 
kind! To see you working about the farm all 
day, one would never suspect that you had been 
to school in the city like any lady.” 

Claudet^ s face lighted up with naive and tender 
admiration. His eyes evidently rested with 
pleasure upon Reiners limpid, black ones — on her 
pure, fresh lips. 

"What can I do?” she asked with a smile; "it 


80 QUEEh! OF THE IVOODS 

is a matter of necessity. If there is no man in 
a house to take the lead the women must do so. 
After mamma’s death, my father’s health failed, 
and since his illness he has grown entirely help- 
less, so I take his place." 

While she was talking, Claudet seized the sack 
of nuts, and raising it as if it were a feather, he 
placed it on his shoulder. They walked toward 
La Thuiliere together. The sun had set; a 
penetrating dampness, rising from the ground, 
enveloped them in a bluish fog. 

"Is your father always ill?" asked Claudet, 
after a pause. 

"He never leaves his easy-chair; his mind 
has weakened, and I have to amuse him 
like a child. But, how are you, Claudet?" she 
asked suddenly turning her bright eyes upon him. 
'"You have had your share of trouble. Great 
events have taken place since we last met. Poor 
M. de Buxieres was taken away very suddenly! ” 

The relations which bound Claudet to the de- 
ceased were a secret to no one. Reine, as well as 
all the country people knew of and recognized 


QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 3l 

them, irregular as they were, as a sanctioned 
fact. . 

Claudet^s features, which for a moment had 
relaxed, contracted. 

"Yes,” he sighed, "he died very suddenly. ” 

"And now, Claudet, you are master at the 
castle? ” 

"Neither master nor man,” he returned with 
so bitter an accent that the maiden gazed at 
him in astonishment. 

"What!” she exclaimed, "was it not understood 
that you should inherit M. de Buxieres^ entire 
estate? ” 

"That was his intention, but he had not time to 
carry it out. He died intestate, and I am as noth- 
ing in the eyes of the law; the fortune will pass 
to a distant relative, to a Buxieres whom M. 
Oudart did not even know.” 

Reiners black eyes filled with tears. 

"What a misfortune!” she cried. "Who would 
have expected that? Oh, my poor Claudet!" 

She uttered those words with such sincere com- 
passion that Claudet was undoubtedly misled, for 


32 QUEEN OF THE fVOODS 

he thought he read in her tearful eyes something 
more tender than pity. He started, seized her 
hand and pressed it tightly. 

“Thank you, Reine! Yes,** he added, after a 
pause, “it is a hard blow to awaken one fine morn- 
ing and find oneself penniless and homeless when 
one has been accustomed to living upon one’s 
income. ’’ 

“What do you intend to do?” asked Reine 
gravely. 

Claudet shrugged his shoulders. 

“Work to earn my bread. If I can find no work 
here I will enlist. I do not think I would make 
a poor soldier! But those thoughts are as yet a 
confused mass in my brain. First of all, I must 
attend to my mother who is disconsolate.” 

“Claudet,” said the girl, “I know you are very 
proud, very sensitive, and I do not wish to hurt 
your feelings, therefore do not take in bad part 
what I am about to say fo you. If you are ever 
in trouble, you will remember, I know, that you 
have friends at La Thuiliere and you will seek 
them.” 


QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 


33 


Claudet colored. 

“I could not take offense at anything that you 
said, Reine,” he stammered, “for I know how 
kind you are; I recognized your generous qualities 
in the days when we played in the priest’s gar- 
den! But there is no hurry; the heir will not 
arrive for several weeks and by that time I hope 
we shall have found some means of helping our- 
selves. ” 

They had reached the fields belonging to La 
Thuiliere. By the fading light of day they could 
distinguish the dark outlines of an old forge, now 
a grange, and they saw a twinkling light in one of 
the low windows. 

“You are now at home,” said Claudet, placing 
the sack of nuts on the stone fence which in- 
closed the premises. “Good night.” 

“Will you not come in and warm yourself?” 

"No, I must return,” he replied. 

"Then farewell, Claudet; be of good cheer!” 

He glanced at her a moment in the twilight, 
then abruptly grasping her hand^ he murmured 
huskily: 

Queen of the Woods — j 


34 QUEHr^ OF THE IVOODS 

“Thank you, Reine, you are a good girl; I love 
you very much!" After which words he walked 
rapidly away and again turned into the woods. 


II 


While matters were progressing thus at Vivey, 
he whose name furnished the subject for gossip 
and curiosity to the villagers M. Julien de Bux- 
ieres, seated in his modest room in the Faubourg 
Saint-Jean at Nancy, was more astonished by the 
later news received from the lawyer of Auberive 
than he was on the receipt of the first announce- 
ment. It is true he remembered having heard his 
father speak of a cousin who had never mar- 
ried and who was possessed of vast estates in 
Haute-Marne; but as all relations had ceased for 
so long a time between the two families, M. de 
Buxieres senior rarely mentioned his expectations 
which seemed so unlikely ever to be realized. 
Julien had never counted on that chimerical in- 
heritance, and he received the intelligence of 
Claude Oudart de Buxieres^ death indifferently. 
He was, of course, by right, the lawful heir to 

the castle of Vivey, but it was highly probable 
35 


30 QUEEN OF THE iVOODS 

that Claude de Buxieres had made a will in favor 
of some one else. 

The second dispatch from notary Arbillot an- 
nouncing that the deceased had died intestate 
and requiring the legal heir to repair as soon 
as possible to Vivey, put an end to the young 
man’s doubts, whic;h gave place to a sensation of 
stupefaction. 

Julien de Buxieres up to this time had not been 
in affluent circumstances. His parents had left 
him no patrimony ; he lived upon his limited sal- 
ary as controller of taxes. He was twenty-seven 
years of age, of medium height, slender, pale, 
nervous and sensitive. His features were deli- 
cate, his brow intelligent, his eyes blue, his mouth, 
shaded by à brown mustache, bearing the im- 
print of melancholy and premature mental wea- 
riness. 

There are men who have never had any child- 
hood, or rather, whose childhood has known no 
happiness; Julien was one of those. That which 
gives to childhood its charm and its joy is the 
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queen of the ÏVOODS 37 

— the caresses of a mother, familiar and sweet 
intimacy with one’s native country in which 
one’s eyes are gradually opened to the marvelous 
sights of the outer world, when each street cor- 
ner, each tree, each spot of earth has a story to 
tell. 

Julien had known no such life. The son of an 
official removed from place to place at the in- 
stance of the administration, he had never, so to 
speak, h-^d a native land nor domestic hearth. 
Born in a small town in the Pyrenees, he was 
taken when two years old to the town of Artois; 
at the expiration of another two years, his parents 
moved again; thus his childhood was spent in 
the east, west, north and south. He had nothing 
bur unpleasant recollections of those hasty 
changes of abode and of long journeys in dili- 
gences. 

His mother died when he was barely eight 
years of age; his father, engrossed in his duties 
and not caring to leave his child in the hands of 
servants, placed him at an early age in a college 
under clerical supervision. There Julien spent 


38 QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

the remainder of his childhood and his youth, sub- 
mitting to the discipline which, though not 
severe, was on the whole quite rigid. Nature 
he only saw in the monotonous walks through a 
flat country. During vacation he rejoined his 
father and found him almost every time in another 
place. He felt more than ever like a stranger 
among strangers and it was with secret satisfac- 
tion that he again sought the cloisters of the Col- 
lege of Saint Hilaire and placed himself under 
the yoke of the paternal but inflexible ecclesias- 
tical discipline 

He accepted with blind faith the religious and 
moral teachings of the reverend fathers. Wo- 
men inspired him with secret aversion. The 
beauties of nature did not move him. The blos- 
soming of flowers in spring, the splendor of the 
summer sun, the rich colors of autumn were not 
associated in his mind with any joyful emotion; 
he professed indifference to those purely mate- 
rial sights which he considered dangerous and 
disturbing. 

His mind delighted in a mystical idealism. 


QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 39 

He was pronounced a "bear,” when at eighteei 
he left the college, and his father, aware of his 
peculiar tastes, tried to introduce him into the 
official society in which he moved. After his 
father’s death he resumed his stay-at-home hab- 
its; he returned with a sigh of relief to his soli- 
tude, his books and his meditations. Thus he 
had attained his twenty-seventh year when the 
intelligence of the death of Claude de Buxieres 
was received, together with the announcement 
of the unexpected inheritance which had devolved 
upon him. After a correspondence with M. 
Arbillot, which assured him as to the validity of 
his rights, he obtained leave of absence and set 
out for Haute-Marne. 

On the way he wondered very much at that 
providential windfall which would permit him to 
give up a career for which he felt unfitted, to 
live independently according to his tastes, free 
from all material care. The notary estimated 
Claude de Buxieres’ personal estate at two hun- 
dred thousand francs. That was much more than 
Julien de Buxieres had ever dared to dream of, 




40 QUEEh! OF THE IVOODS 

He was enchanted with the prospect of a solitary 
retreat in a castle situated in the heart of the 
woods, where he could give himself up to the 
life of study aud thought which he loved — far 
from worldly frivolities and demands. He fan- 
cied himself already at Vivey, in a library filled 
with books of his own careful choosing. 

Julien arrived at Langres on a foggy October 
afternoon and immediately inquired at the hotel 
it a carriage could be procured to take him that 
same night to Vivey. The proprietor refused to 
let his horse go out until the following morning, 
owing to the miserable condition of the roads. 
Julien was vainly attempting to reason with the 
man, when he was accosted by a cabman who had 
overheard their conversation, and who offered to 
undertake the journey for twenty francs. 

‘T have a capital horse,” said he to Julien, 'T 
know the roads and I promise you that we shall 
be at Vivey before night draws in.” 

The bargain was quickly made. Half an hour 
later Julien de Buxieres was on his way to his 
final destination. For the first time since he left 


QUEEl>^ OF THE IVOODS 


41 


Nancy he experienced a feeling of joy and peace, 
his tongue became loosened and he addressed the 
coachman who smoked as he spurred on his 
horses. 

"Are we very far from Vivey?” 

"That is a mater of opinion, sir! As the crow 
flies it is not very far, and if the roads were good 
we should be there in an hour. Unfortunately 
at the turning by the farm at Allofray, we shall 
have to leave the main for a cross road, then we 
shall wade through mud and — " 

"You told me you knew the roads!” 

"I know them without knowing them. With 
those cross-roads one can never be sure of any- 
thing; they change every year.” 

"How long is it since 5^ou were at Vive}^?” 

"Five or six years ago. I often took huntsmen 
to the castle. Ah, the hunting grounds are 
beautiful, sir; one cannot go twenty paces with- 
out seeing a stag or a roebuck.” 

"Did you ever see M. Oudart de Buxieres?” 

"Yes, sir, more than once He is a jolly fel- 
low and a bold one.” 


42 QUEEf^ OF THE IVOODS 

"He was," interrupted Julien, gravely, "for he 
is dead." 

"Ah, excuse me. I did not know. Is he dead? 
Such a fine man! Be careful," he added, pulling 
the reins, "we are leaving the road and must 
keep our eyes open." 

It was twilight; the guide lighted his lamps 
and the cab jolted along a road now stony, now 
muddy; suddenly the wheels sank into a rut and 
the horse could not proceed. At first the coach- 
man swore roundly, then he asked Julien to help 
him push the wheels; but the young man, whose 
muscles had been little exercised, could not ren- 
der him much assistance. 

"It is impossible to move them," he yelled. 

"Let the wheel alone, sir; you have no more 
strength than a chicken! But we cannot spend 
the night here! " 

"If we were to call," suggested Julien, "per- 
haps some one might come to our aid." 

They whistled loudly, and at the end of five 
minutes a vr'ce replied. A wood-cutter coming 
from a section near by had heard them. 


QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 43 

"Come here,” cried the coachman; "we are stuck 
in the mud. Lend us a hand.” 

The wood cutter finally appeared and examined 
the cab with a shake of his head. 

"You are on the wrong road,” said he, "and 
you will have a great deal of trouble in getting 
out of it. Your best plan would be to unharness 
the horse and to wait until daylight to extricate 
your carriage.” 

"And where shall we sleep? ” grumbled the cab- 
man. "There is not a single house in this wretch- 
ed part of the country.” 

"Pardon me, you are not far from La ThuiJiere ; 
the people at the farm will not refuse to give you 
lodging, and to-morrow morning they will help 
you with your carriage. Take out the horse, com- 
rade; I will conduct you to the spot from which 
you can see the lights at the farm-house.” 

The coachman with many oaths followed that 
counsel; they took out the horse, detached one 
of the lamps from the cab to serve as a lantern, 
and under the escort of the wood-cutter they 
slowly penetrated the mist. 


44 QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

In the course of ten minutes the wood-cutter 
pointed out to the two travelers a light which 
glimmered at the end of a country-road. 

"You need only go straight ahead,” said he, 
"the barking of the dogs will guide you. Ask for 
Mile. Vincart — goodnight, sirs!” 

The coachman walked in advance with his lan- 
tern; young Buxieres followed him. Finally they 
heard furious barking. 

"We are there/’ said the man. "Fortunately 
the dogs are not unloosed or it would fare badly 
with us!" 

They entered an open gate and from the court- 
yard examined the dwelling. With the excep- 
tion of a light seen through one of the windows 
on the ground floor, the long, low facade was in 
darkness. To the barking of the watch-dogs 
was joined the bleating of sheep, the neighing of 
horses and the clattering of the farm-servants’ 
wooden shoes. At the same moment the door of 
the house opened and a servant, attracted no 
doubt by all that uproar, appeared on the thresh- 
old, lantern in her hand. 


QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 45 

“Holla, you,’* cried she sharply to the new- 
comers, who were advancing toward her. 
“What do you want?’’ 

In a few words the coachman related their 
misadventure and asked if they could be shel- 
tered at the farm over night; on the following 
morning he and the gentleman, whom he was 
conducting to Vivey, would set out again. 

The servant raised the lantern and prudently 
scanned the faces of her two interlocutors; no 
doubt their appearance reassured her, for in a 
more gentle tone, she said: 

“Faith, that does not depend on me. I am 
not the mistress here, but come along. Mile. 
Reine will answer you herself. ' 

After the driver had fastened his horse to a 
post, the servant ushered them into a large room 
paved with brick, and placed two chairs before 
the fire. 

“Warm yourselves while you wait,” she con- 
tinued; “I will not be long. Excuse me, I am 
going to milk my cows. It is work that must 
be done.” 


46 QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

When the door had closed behind her, Julien 
de Buxieres glanced curiously around the room 
into which they had been conducted; it served 
as kitchen and dining-room. To the right of the 
fire-place, a large cast-iron stove was roaring, 
while saucepans standing upon it emitted savory 
odors. In the center of the room on a table of 
beechwood was spread a cloth of coarse linen, 
and covers were laid for a meal. White muslin 
curtains shaded the windows on the ledges of 
which were pots of white, brown and pink chrys- 
anthemums. Around the walls were shelves 
containing in symmetrical order shining cooking 
utensils, pans and copper kettles. Near the 
clock a cupboard displayed to view a service of 
old Aprey pottery in bright, gay colors; not far 
from the mantel-piece, adorned with a copper 
crucifix, shelves affixed to the walls contained 
three rows of books bound in gray cloth. Julien 
read their titles in surprise; they were: Paul 
and Virginia, La Fontaine's Fables, Gessner's 
Idyls. Don Quixote, and odd volumes of the Pic- 
torial Magazine. 


QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 47 

‘‘It is very comfortable here,” said the coach- 
man; ‘‘an odor issues from that stove which 
produces hunger; I should like to see Mile. 
Reine. ” 

Scarcely had he completed his sentence when 
a shrill voice which seemed to come from the 
copper kettles, repeated ‘‘Reine! Reine!” 

‘‘What is that?” exclaimed the coachman in 
perplexity. Both men raised their eyes toward 
the beams. At that moment they heard the rust- 
ling of wings, a light hopping, and saw a black 
and white magpie on one of the joists. 

‘‘Ha, ha! ” laughed the coachman. 

He was still laughing, when a plaintive echo, 
another voice — this time human — proceeded from 
a dark corner and stammered: ‘‘Rei eine! 
Rei eine !” 

“Hey!'’ muttered Julien starting up ; “some one 
replied. ” 

His companion seized the lamp and advanced 
towards that portion of the room which was in 
shadow. Suddenly he stopped short. Julien, 
who had followed him, saw with affright, at the 


48 QUEEh! OF THE IVOODS 

end of a sort of niche formed by two screens, a 
strange-looking personage stretched upon a 
lounge and almost buried beneath woolen covers. 
This person’s long white hair made his blood 
less, emaciated face appear more ghastly, while 
his eyes were wide and staring. - He did not 
stir, and his arms hung inertly by his side. 

"Sir,” said Julien, greeting him ceremoniously, 
"we regret having disturbed you. Your servant 
ushered us into this room to await the arrival 
of Mile. Reine." 

The inanimate old man did not seem to un- 
derstand, but continued to repeat in the same 
tone: "Rei-eine — Rei-eine! ” 

The two astonished travelers gazed at this 
sepulchral looking creature, then at one another, 
and began to feel ill at ease. The magpie 
clapped his wings and cried in his turn: 
"Reine! Reine des bois!” 

"I am here, papa, do not worry!" said a sweet, 
musical voice behind them. Reine Vincart had 
entered the room. Her head was enveloped in a 
white hood, against lier bosom she pressed an 











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OUÊÈN OF THE JVOODS 


49 


enormous bouquet which seemed to contain speci- 
mens of all the wild fruits of the forest. 

Julien de Buxieres and his companion turned 
at the sound of Reiners voice. When the latter 
perceived them, she approached them and asked 
quickly : 

"What are you doing here? do you not see that 
you have frightened him?” 

Julien abashed and mortified, murmured an 
apology, and in his confusion attempted to ex- 
plain the accident he and his guide had met with. 
She interrupted him with: 

"Yes, the carriage; Margaret told me of it; it 
shall be attended to. Take seats nearer the fire, 
gentlemen, we will soon talk the matter over." 

She took the lamp from the guide and placed 
it, together with her armful of plants, upon a table 
near by. In a trice she removed her hood and 
shawl, then she knelt beside the invalid after 
having kissed his brow affectionately. From hii 
corner by the fire-place, Julien heard her talking 
in a coaxing manner to the paralytic. 

‘T know you were lonesome, papa," said she, "but 
Queen of the Woods — 4 


50 QUEEN OF THE H^OODS 

you know, I did not wish to return until the last 
sacks of potatoes were placed in the cart. Now 
everything has been brought in, and we can rest 
content. I thought of you on the way and I brought 
you a lovely bouquet. We will enjoy examining 
them together to-morrow, by daylight. Now you 
will drink your broth, and when we have supped 
Margaret ajid I will tuck you snugly in bed and 
I will sing you to sleep.” 

She rose, took from a cupboard a bowl which 
she filled with the contents simmering in a ves- 
sel on the stove, and returned to the old man’s 
side. Slowly she administered the food to him. 
Julien, notwithstanding the gloom which the mis- 
adventures of that evening had cast over him, 
could not help admiring the patient, maternal 
tenderness with which the young girl cared for 
her father. 

When the bowl was empty she returned to 
the stove, seeming to have just remembered her 
guests. 

"Excuse me, sir," she began, addressing Julien, 
"but I had to wait upon my father first. Did I 


QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 51 

understand Margaret to say that you were going 
to Vivey? ” 

“Yes, mademoiselle, I hope to sleep there to- 
night. ” 

“You have come, no doubt,” she continued, “on 
business at the castle. Will not M. Oudart’s 
heir arrive soon?” 

“I am the heir,” said Julien, coloring. 

“Are you M. deBuxieres?” exclaimed Reine in 
surprise. Somewhat embarrassed at having al- 
lowed her astonishment to be perceived, she 
paused and blushed in her turn. She would never 
have dreamed that that timid, delicate, melan- 
choly-looking man was the new lord — he resem- 
bled the Oudart de Buxieres so little! 

“Pardon me, sir, ’’ she continued; “you may have 
thought my welcome somewhat rude, but my first 
thoughts were of my father. He is very ill as 
you probably have seen, and I feared he might 
have been startled by the sight of strange faces. ’’ 

“It is I, mademoiselle,” replied Julien in con- 
fusion, “who should ask pardon for having caused 
so much inconvenience. But I will not trouble 


52 QUEEhl OF THE IFOODS 

you any longer. If you will give u^ a guide who 
will start us on the road to Vivey, we can sleep 
at the castle this evening." 

‘‘No, indeed," protested Reine with great cor- 
diality; ‘‘you are my guests and I cannot permit 
you to leave us in this manner. Moreover, you 
would probably find the house closed down there, 
for I do not think they expected you so soon." 

During that conversation, the servant who had 
admitted the travelers entered the room; behind 
her came the farm-servants, men and women who 
silently seated themselves at the table. 

"Margaret," said Reine, "lay two more covers. 
Has the gentleman’s horse been cared for?” 

"Yes, mademoiselle, he is in the stable," replied 
one of the men. 

"Very well, Bernard take Fleuriot to-morrow 
and fetch the carriage which is imbedded in the 
mud at Planche au Vacher. Now, M. de Bux- 
ieres, will you and your guide take seats at the 
table? I do not know if our supper will be to 
your taste; I have nothing to offer you but broth, 
a chine of pork and some cheese. But you must 


queen of the ÎVOODS^ 53 

be hungry, and if one’s appetite is good it is not 
a difficult matter to eat.” 

Margaret served the soup, and soon nothing 
could be heard but the clatter of dishes, knives 
and forks. Julien glanced stealthily at the hand- 
some maiden presiding at the table and watching 
every detail of the meal; he thought her odd. 
According to his theories, woman, and above all 
a young woman, should be modest, submissive 
with eyes downcast, only raising them to consult 
her husband or her mother as to what she might 
and might not do. But Reine was entirely 
different. She appeared to be scarcely twenty- 
two years old, yet she acted with the promptness 
and decision of a man, while preserving the 
reserve, the affection and the easy grace of a 
woman. What surprised Julien too was the fact 
that she seemed to have received an education 
superior to that of the people of her class, and 
he wondered how that refined woman could ac- 
commodate herself to the coarse atmosphere in 
which she lived. While Julien reflected and ate 
his food with an absent air, Reine Vincart hastily 


51 QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

glanced at the reserved, shy man who scarcely 
dared address her, and who conducted himself so 
stiffly and ceremoniously. She mentally compared 
him with Claudet, the bold huntsman, resolute, 
full of life and energy, and within her breast was 
awakened a feeling of compassion at the thought 
of the reception which the Séjournants would 
give to that master, so timid, so unfamiliar with 
the customs and manners of rustics. Julien did 
not seem to her capable of defending himself 
against the ill-will of people who would consider 
him an interloper, and who would certainly en- 
deavor to make him pay dearly for the inheritance 
of which he had deprived them. 

"Do you not drink, M. de Buxieres?" Reine 
asked, observing that her guest’s glass was still 
full. 

"No, I do not drink very much," he replied, 
"and I never drink wine clear. I would be obliged 
if you would pass me some water." 

Reine smiled and handing him a jug said: "In- 
deed! We here in the mountains have an especial 
weakness for Burgundy. Of course you hunt." 


QUEEN OF THE ÎVOODS 55 

"No, mademoiselle, I do not know how to han- 
dle a gun." 

"Then you do not intend to settle at Vivey?" 

"Why not?” he exclaimed. "On the contrary, 
I intend to live at the castle — in fact to make it 
my permanent home," 

Reine replied with a smile: 

"You are neither a huntsman nor a lover of wine, 
and you intend to live in our woods! You will 
die of ennui, my poor sir! " 

"I shall have my books for companions," said 
he. "Moreover, solitude has never frightened me. " 

The young girl shook her head doubtfully. 

"Pll wager," she continued, "that you do not 
even play cards. " 

"Never; games of chance are contrary to my 
principles. " 

"Remember, that I do not censure you for it," 
she answered gayly, "but if I may make so bold 
as to give you a piece of advice, do not mention 
your repugnance to hunting, cards and wine ; our 
peasants would pity you and that would detract 
from your dignity." 


5(5 'queen of the IVOODS 

Julien looked at her in amazement. She ceased 
talking with M. de Buxieres in order to give in- 
structions to Margaret with regard to the beds 
set apart for her guests, then in silence the meal 
was finished. Reine Vincart arose from the 
table. 

“This is the time that I assist my father to 
retire. I shall have to leave you, M. de Bux- 
ieres; Margaret will conduct you to your room. 
Pleasant dreams.” She returned to her father’s 
side. At the sight of her, the paralytic mani- 
fested his joy by a succession of inarticulated 
sounds. 

The room on the first floor, to which Margaret 
led Julien, looked bright and inviting. The 
walls were white-washed, the chairs, table and 
lounge were of polished oak; a fire crackled in 
the grate and through the blinds could be seèn a 
glimmer of the moon. The young man prepared 
for bed at once, but notwithstanding the fatigue 
of the day, sleep had forsaken him. Through 
the partition he could hear the musical voice of 
Reine, who was trying to lull her father to sleep 


QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 


57 


by singing to him a national air, and, as Julien 
turned upon his pillow again and again, he re- 
called the image of the original girl whose grace, 
energy, and freedom of speech attracted, while 
they scandalized him. Finally he fell asleep. 

When he awoke, the sun had risen. The sky 
had cleared during the night. The leaves 
touched by the first frost fell upon tne ground 
and formed green heaps at the bases of the trees. 

Julien clothed himself hastily and descended 
to the court-yard where he saw the cab in which 
he had ridden the preceding day — one of the 
farm-hands was cleaning its muddy wheels. On 
entering the large hall on the ground floor, he 
found Reine Vincart there. 

Good morning, M. de Buxieres, ’’ she said in 
her cordial manner. “Did you sleep well?” 

“Yes.” 

“That is well! You have surprised me at 
work. My father is still in bed and I am profit- 
ing by his absence to arrange his little nook. 
The doctor has ordered that he should not lie 
near the fire, so I installed him here. It has 


58 QiJEEN OF THE IVOODS 

agreed with him very well; in order to guard 
him from all draughts I contrived this niche.” 

She pointed out to him, by the side of the 
window, a large chair ensconced amid the 
screens. She noticed that Julien gazed curiously 
at the rough pictures pasted on their sides. 

“That was my invention, too. My father’s 
mind is somewhat weakened, but he understands 
a great many things, though he cannot speak. 
As he grows very weary all day long lying in his 
chair, I covered the screens with those pictures. 
The bright colors amuse him as they would a 
child, and I explain their meaning to him. I do 
not tell him much at one time for fear of fa- 
tiguing him. We are now taking Pyramus and 
Thisbe, and it will take us a long time before we 
reach the end." 

Her guest cast upon her a compassionate glance 
which seemed to say: "The poor man will not 
last long enough to learn the end!” 

No doubt she entertained the same fears, for 
there was a suspicion of tears in her dark eyes; 
she sighed, and for a moment did not speak. 


QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 


59 


During that pause the magpie hopped familiarly 
around her mistress, repeating: “Reine, Reine des 
Bois,” (Queen of the woods.) 

“Why does the bird call you ‘Reine des Bois?’” 
asked Julien. 

"Ah,” replied the girl, “it is a name given 
to me by the people of this vicinity, because I 
love the woods so dearly. I spend as much time 
as I can in our forests. Margaret remembers 
hearing my father call me by that name in days 
gone by." 

“Do you like this wild country?” again in- 
quired M. de Buxieres. 

“Very much. I was born here and I love it. 

“But you have not always lived here?” 

“No; my mother, who was from a city, sent 
me to school at Dijon. I was educated like a 
lady, though you would not think so. I remained 
there six years. When my mother died my 
father was taken ill, and I returned home. ” 

“Was not that sudden change a trial to you?" 

“Not at all. You see, I am at heart a rustic. 
But," she added, turning towards the fire-place, 


60 QUEEN OF THE IVOODS^ 

“I believe they are harnessing the horse and you 
must be hungry. Your guide has already been 
supplied with some roast meat and white wine. 
I will not offer you the same food; I will prepare 
you some coff^.” 

She waited upon him herself. He hastily 
swallowed a cup of coffee and turning toward 
his hostess, said: 

“It only remains for me, mademoiselle, to 
thank you for your kind hospitality. I look upon 
this cordial welcome on my arrival in a strange 
part of the country, as a good omen. Permit me 
to ask you one more question,” he continued, 
looking at her with an anxious air, “why do you 
think I will have difficulty in becoming accus- 
tomed to the life here?” 

“Why?” she repeated, shaking her head, “be- 
cause to speak candidly, you do not impress me, 
sir, as being the least rural in your habits. You 
are not familiar with our customs; you cannot 
address the peasants in their tongue and they 
will not understand you. You will be to them 
the ’gentleman from the city,’ whom they mistrust. 


QUEEh! OF THE IVOODS 61 

I may be mistaken, but I fancy you 'will meet with 
difficulties of which you do not seem to think — ” 
She was interrupted by the entrance of the 
guide who had grown impatient. The horse was 
in readiness and all was awaiting M. de Buxieres. 
Julien, after awkwardly slipping a piece of silver 
into Margaret’s hand, bade farewell to Reine 
Vincart who accompanied him to the door. 

“Thank you again, mademoiselle, ” he murmured, 

‘ and good-bye until we meet again, since we are 
to be such near neighbors.” 

She pressed the hand he timidly offered her. 
Julien mounted the box beside the coachman. 

“A safe journey and good luck, sir!” cried 
Reine, as the cab rumbled along. 


Ill 


upon leaving La Thuiliere the coachman again 
turned his horse toward the Planche au Vacher. 

Directed that time by the people at the farm, 
he followed a road which rudely jostled the two 
travelers, but which led to a point at which they 
could ford the stream. 

When they reached the opposite shore, the 
white mist which had enveloped them, cleared 
off somewhat, and they could see the road dis- 
tinctly. 

"Now I know where I am! " exclaimed the guide. 
"We have only to go straight ahead and in twenty 
minutes we shall be at Vivey. That miserable 
fog penetrates to one^s very bones! With your 
permission, M. de Buxieres, 1 will light my pipe 
in order to warm myself." 

Having discovered that his fare was the owner 

of the castle, he regretted his gruff treatment of 

him on the preceding day and tried to make 
62 


QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 


03 


amends by an incessant stream of talk; but Ju- 
lien de Buxieres, occupied with his thoughts and 
interested in the new surroundings, paid little 
heed to the man^s advances. The pleasant re- 
membrance of Reine Vincart^s hospitality, no 
doubt predisposed Julien to enjoy the charming 
morning, and, for the first time, he drank in the 
beauties of the woodland scenery. 

Soon they perceived a park in the distance, 
surrounded by low, crumbling walls, then several 
smoking chimneys and beyond a group of ash 
trees, two towers. The coachman pointed to them 
.with the end of his whip and said: 

“That is Vivey. These are your lands, M. de 
Buxieres! ” 

Julien started. Notwithstanding his indiffer- 
ence to worldly comforts, he could not restrain a 
certain sense of satisfaction as he thought that 
he was to be the master of those woods, those 
fields and that old dwelling. His satisfaction 
was in some measure detracted from, by the 
thought of the material details of assuming pos- 
session. For Julien was not a business man and 


Cl QUEEN OF THE iVOOD^ 

Reine Vincart’s predictions worried him. When 
the cab drew up at a gate and he saw the avenue 
of ash trees, the grassy court and the facade, his 
heart throbbed violently. 

“The gate is closed; it does not look as if they 
expected you," said the coachman. 

They alighted from the carriage. The cabman 
pulled the bell. The noise aroused the dogs, 
causing them to bark furiously; but no one within 
the house seemed to hear it. 

“Bah, we must get in," said the man, ringing 
again and glancing slyly at his companion’s dis- 
concerted face. He fastened his horse to one of* 
the posts, then pushing open the gate, the)^ passed 
beneath the ash trees, while the dogs renewed 
their barking. 

As they reached the court, the house-door 
opened and Manette Séjournant appeared on the 
steps. 

“Good morning, sirs," she cried in a drawling 
tone; “was it you who made all that noise?" 

The sight of that corpulent woman increased 
Julien’ s confusion. He advanced awkwardly, 




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QUEE^ OF THE IVOODS 6Î 

raised his hat, and replied almost apologetically : 

"Fcfdon, mademoiselle; I am the late Claude 
de Buxieres’ cousin and heir. I have come to live 
at the castle, and I wrote M. Arbillot, the notary, 
to that effect. I am surprised that he has not 
notified you.” 

“Ah, are you M. Julien de Buxieres?" exclaimed 
Mme. Séjournant, staring at the stranger with an 
expression of curiosity mingled with disdainful 
surprise which succeeded in putting the young 
man out of countenance. "M. Arbillot was here 
yesterday; he waited for 5^ou all day, and as you 
did not come, he left last night.” 

“Were you in my cousines service?” gently in- 
quired Julien, who wished to treat his relative’s 
servants considerately and kindly. 

“Yes, sir,” replied Manette, with mournful 
dignity. “I served M. de Buxieres for twenty- 
six years, faithfully. But I have only remained 
here since his death, with Claudet, my son, to keep 
the seals. We have grown tired of living with 
others and we have decided to leave as soon as 
the notary no longer needs us.” 

Queen of the Woods — 5 


66 queen of the ÏVOODS 

"I am sorry, madame, ” murmured Julien, nerv- 
ously adding: “There must be other servants 
here. Will you kindly see that our carriage is 
brought into the yard? And now, if you will show 
us the way we will enter the house, for I am 
anxious to be at home, and my guide would not 
object to some refreshment.” 

“I will send some one to open the gate,” said 
the housekeeper. “If you will come in, sirs, I 
will conduct you to the only room available at 
present, on account of the seals not having been 
removed.” Leading the way, she proceeded to- 
ward the kitchen and stood aside to allow them 
to enter the large room in which, before a bright 
fire, a servant was preparing coffee. 

“My boy,” said Manette with a sly wink at her 
son, “here is M. de Buxieres who has come to 
take possession of his property.” 

Claudet bowed in silence, then the two young 
men glanced at one another hastily. 

Julien de Buxieres’ embarrassment was aug- 
mented by the unexpected presence of the hand- 
some rustic with the strong, intelligent face and ro- 


QUBËN of the IVOODS 07 

bust form, and by the surprised, ironically com- 
passionate glance cast upon him from Claudet’s 
large brown eyes. He turned uneasily and asked 
that some wine be given his guide. 

While Manette executed his commands and 
brought a glass and a bottle of wine, Claudet 
continued to stare with a sort of stupid incredu- 
lity at Claude de Buxieres^ heir, who looked more 
like a seminarist than a scion of that noble fam- 
ily. Claudet therefore ventured to question him 
who had come to deprive him of his posses- 
sions. 

“Are you really M. Julien de Buxieres?” he 
asked suspiciously. 

“Do you take me for an impostor?” exclaimed 
the young man with a blush. 

“I did not say so,” sullenly replied Claudet, 
“but you surely have not your name written on 
your face and— my faith, as custodian of the 
seals, I have a certain responsibility! I shall 
have to post myself, that is all!” 

Irritated at having to submit to an examination 
in the presence of the coachman who had brought 


68 QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

him from Langres, Julien asked in a tone of 
haughty irony: 

"Would you like me to show you my papers?" 

Anticipating that matters might become seri- 
ous, Manette interposed. 

"Claudet, let the gentleman alone. He would 
not be here, if he had not the right. As for 
asking him to prove his identity, that is not our 
business but the justice’s and lawyer’s. You 
would do better, my boy, to go to Auberive and 
ask those gentlemen to come hither to-morrow." 

At that moment, the boy who had been sent 
to open the gate, entered the kitchen. 

"The carriage is in the court," said he, "and 
the gentleman’s luggage is in the hall. Where 
shall I put it, Madame Séjournant?" 

Julien’s eyes turned from Manette td the 
peasant with an expression of fatigue and impa- 
tience. 

"My faith,” said Manette, "there is only the 
deceased’s room that is open! Will monsieur 
use that?” 

"Yes,” murmured Julien de Buxieres ; "have 


QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 69 

my trunks taken to that room and give orders 
that it be aired immediately." 

At a sign from the housekeeper, the boy and 
the maid-servant disappeared again. 

"Madame,” continued Julien, turning toward 
Manette, "did I understand that I cannot count 
upon you to keep house for me? Can you at 
least get me a woman who will take your place?” 

"Oh, as far as that is concerned,” said the 
housekeeper, "a day or two more or less, makes 
no difference. I am not so particular. I will 
keep the house in order as long as 1 am here. 
At what hour would you like to dine, sir?" 

"At any time that is most convenient to you, ” 
Julien hastened to reply, in a conciliatory tone. 
"You may have dinner served in my room. ” 

When the door closed behind him. Manette 
and her son exchanged sarcastic glances. 

"He a Buxieres?" grumbled Claudet. 

"He is an ecrigneule,” said Manette, shrugging 
her shoulders. 

^Ecrigneule’ is a word which in the mountain 
dialect means an effeminate person. From Mme. 


70 QUEE}^ OF THE IVOODS 

Séjournantes lips that picturesque epithet 
sounded remarkably scornful. 

“To think," sighed the Great Huntsman, run- 
ning his fingers wildly through his bushy hair, 
“that that fellow is to be master here! ” 

“Master, indeed!" repeated Manette shaking 
her head. “He does not know anything and he 
is incapable of giving orders. He will be easily 
led. You see, Claudet, if we use a little policy, 
in two months time we will hold the reins." 

“What do you mean by using policy, mother?" 

“I mean to do things gradually and not to 
make such a fuss at once. That fellow is like a 
bird which has fallen from its nest. We must 
help him to get back and make ourselves so 
useful that he cannot do without us. When we 
have done that he will be in our power." 

“You wish me to become the servant of a man 
who has stolen my inheritance from me! " pro- 
tested Claudet indignantly. 

“Not his servant, but his companion and his 
adviser! It would be so easy if you would try, 
Claudet! I tell you he is not malicious! When 


QUEE}^ OF THE IVOODS 71 

he Has' been convinced that we are necessary to 
him, if some one, the priest, for example, would 
hint to him that you are Claude de Buxieres’ 
son, he would treat you as a relative, partly from 
interest, partly from religious scruples." 

"No,” said Claudet, "I will not listen to any- 
thing of the kind! That is what M. Arbillot 
proposed yesterday, offering to tell the fellow 
himself of my relation to Claude de Buxieres 
and of the will which my father intended making 
in my favor. I forbade the notary to speak of 
it. I, to play the dog begging for crumbs from 
the man whom my father detested and to ask of 
him a part of his inheritance! Thank you, I 
would rather leave at once!” 

"You would rather see your mother beg her 
bread from door to door!” said Manette, bitterly 
wiping away a tear. 

"I have already told you mother, that when 
one has arms and a good will one need not beg. 
Enough— I am going to Auberive to notify the 
justice and lawyer.” 

While Claudet went upon his errand, the serv- 


72 QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

ant carried the new-comer’s luggage to the 
room on the first floor, and Zelie, the maid, put 
sheets on the bed, aired the room and lightëd a 
fire. 

Soon afterward Julien was alone in his new 
quarters. The fire-place, in which a fire had not 
been made since winter, smoked unpleasantly, 
and the damp logs smoldered but did not burn. 
The late Claude de Buxieres’ room had the un- 
comfortable aspect of one which has not been 
used for a long time. 

Julien seated himself in one of the Utrecht 
velvet easy chairs and poked the fire; he felt out 
of his element and had not the heart to arrange 
his clothes in the half-open cupboards which 
exhaled an odor of dampness. The slight sensa- 
tion of joy which had for a moment possessed 
him on leaving the Vincart farm, had vanished. 
He felt more lonesome than ever. He thought 
of Reine’ s cordial welcome and the difficulties 
she had foreseen. The remembrance of the cozy 
interior of La Thuiliere made the cold, cheerless 
house at Vivey, peopled only with hostile, serv- 











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QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 


73 


ants, appear doubly cold and cheerless. Why 
were those people so ill-disposed toward him? 
He anticipated that he would meet with stubborn 
opposition on the part of his inferiors, and he was 
startled at the thought of the energy it would 
require to show them that he meant to be master 
at the castle. 

Languidly, methodically, he proceeded to set- 
tle his effects in his cousin’s rooms. He had 
barely finished when Zelie reappeared and began 
to lay the cloth. The girl cried in her patois as 
she saw the smoldering fire : “Ah, the wood did 
not burn?” 

He stared at her as if she had spoken Hebrew. 

“Be, be," she continued, “I will get you some 
fagots.” She soon returned and kindled a fresh 
fire, then taking a long tube of iron pierced at 
both ends, she blew in it vigorously and soon 
the fire burned brightly. 

“There!” said she, looking at Julien with a tri- 
umphant air, in which was visible a certain dis- 
dain for the gentleman who did not even know 
how to keep up the fire. “Now I will set the 


74 QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

table." As she placed upon the cloth the dishes, 
a bottle and a glass, Julien tried to make hei 
talk. But the girl, either trained in advance or 
unable to understand M. de Buxieres^ French, 
only answered his questions in monosyllables or 
in her patois, so that Julien was forced to desist 
without having obtained from her the least infor- 
mation. 

Mile. Vincart was right; he could not speak 
those peoples^ language! He ate without any 
relish a breakfast upon which Manette had done 
her very best; he scarcely tasted the roast, and to 
Zelie’s unbounded astonishment, diluted the old 
Burgundy largely with water. 

“You may tell Mme. Séjournant," said he to 
the servant as he folded his napkin, “that I am 
not much of an eater and that one dish will suf- 
fice me." 

While she cleaned the table, he went out into 
the air to take a glance at the lands which were 
to be his. The twenty odd houses which com- 
posed the village and nestled at the foot of a 
wooded eminence, like eggs in a nest, formed a 


QUEEl^ OF THE IVOODS 75 

single street which extended around the castle; 
he had soon made the circuit of - it; the few in- 
habitants he met on his way, cast upon him cold 
glances in which lay more of curiosity than good 
will. He entered the small chapel; he knelt 
down and tried to collect himself, but the coarse 
images of the rustic sanctuary disturbed rather 
than soothed him. He left Vivey and followed 

the path which led toward the forest — not that 

0 

the latter would interest him more than the for- 
mer. The woods awoke no responsive echo in his 
breast. He did not know a beech from an ash and 
all plants were "weeds," to him, but he felt the 
necessity of tiring his body by violent physical 
exercise. He walked for several hours without 
noticing anything and did not return to the cas- 
tle until dusk. 

Again the little maid brought him a dinner 
which he ate absently without observing whether 
his food was beef or mutton; immediately after 
his meal he retired and fell into a feverish sleep. 
Thus ended his first day. 

The next morning at nine o^ clock he was in- 


76 QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

formed that the justice, the lawyer and the reg- 
istrar were awaiting him below-stairs. He went 
down and found the three men conferring in whis- 
pers with Manette and Claudet in the kitchen; 
when he entered, the conversation stopped abrupt- 
ly, and during an awkward silence of several 
seconds, Julien felt all eyes turned upon him. At 
length he bowed, showed the justice the papers 

which confirmed his identity and requested him 

» 

to proceed to work without delay. 

The task commenced, not a room in the house 
was passed over; Claudet maintained his position 
near the justice and did not allow the slightest 
opportunity to escape by which he could manifest 
to Claude de Buxieres’ legal heir his antipathy 
and ill-will. At eleven o’clock, Julien was for- 
mally invested in all his rights. But he was not 
yet through with the annoying formalities con- 
nected with his inheritance; he had to invite the 
three officials to lunch with him. This had been 
provided for by Manette, who had spent the 
entire morning preparing a plentiful repast and 
who had taken the precaution to -draw Julien de 


QUEEh! OF THE IVOODS 77 

Buxieres aside in order to instruct him in the 
duties of a host. 

When they entered the dining-room, young 
Buxieres noticed that five plates had been put 
on the table; he was wondering for whom the 
fifth cover was destined, when from a word 
dropped by the registrar he gathered that the 
unknown guest was no other than Claudet. Indeed 
Manette had not been able to bear the thought 
that her son, the constant companion of the late 
Claude de Buxieres, should that day be relegated 
to the kitchen. Deliberately she set a place for 
him at his master’s table, thinking that the latter 
would not dare to offer an affront publicly to 
Claudet. She was not mistaken in her calcula- 
tions ; Julien, desirous of conciliating him, ap- 
proached Claudet who stood proudly to one side 
and invited him to be seated. 

"Thank you," said Claudet brusquely, "I have 
lunched.’* 

And he turned his back on M. de Buxieres who 
was disconcerted and vexed. 

The meal seemed interminable to Julien. The 


78 QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

three guests did honor to Mme. Séjournantes 
lunch and getting warmed gradually by their 
host^s Burgundy, they related innumerable 
jokes and anecdotes. These, savoring somewhat 
of coarseness, jarred upon Julien’s sensitive 
nerves. He succeeded in fulfilling his duties as 
host, but he ate little, and with difficulty sup- 
pressed an inclination to yawn. The justice, the 
registrar and the notary could not understand a 
young man of twenty-eight, who drank water, 
cared not for good cheer and rarely smiled. 
Finally rendered uncomfortable by their host’s 
taciturnity, they rose from the table sooner than 
was their custom and prepared to take their leave. 

Before setting out, Notary Arbillot slipped his 
arm familiarly through Julien’sand led him into 
an adjoining room which served as billiard-room 
and library. 

“M. de Buxieres, ” said he to him, pointing to 
a pile of documents lying on the green baize of 
the table, "you will find there all the titles and 
papers relative to the estates and succession. Put 
them away in order to study them at your leisure. 


QUEEh! OF THE IVOODS 79 

You will be interested in reading them. It is 
needless to tell you,” he added, “that I am at 
your disposal if you want any advice or expla- 
nation ; but if the questions are of only minor 
importance, you can refer to Claudet Séjournant, 
who is very well-posted in such affairs. With 
regard to that boy, M. de Buxieres, allow me 
to recommend him especially to your benevo- 
lence. ” 

Here he was cut short by an imperious gesture 
from Julien, who said wtih a frown; 

"If you please, M. Arbillot, we will not discuss 
that subject. I have already tried to be kind to 
M. Claudet, and during the twenty-four hours I 
have been here, he has insulted me twice. Do 
not speak of him again.” 

The notary, who was in the act of lighting his 
pipe, paused. From a feeling of good-fellowship 
toward the "Great Huntsman,” and notwithstand- 
ing the latter* s protestations, he had determined 
to inform Juliénas to Claudet* s birth. Prudently 
however he abstained from any explanation for 
the present. 


80 QUEEh! OF THE JVOODS 

"Very well, M. de Buxieres," he replied with 
a bow, "I will not mention him." 

Thereupon he left the room and rejoined the 
justice and registrar. 

The three men on their way to Auberive dis- 
cussed the incidents of the lunch and the per- 
sonal appearance of the new master. 

“That Buxieres," said M. Destourbet, "does 
not resemble his deceased cousin, Claude." 

"I understand that the two branches were un- 
friendly," pleasantly observed the notary. 

"Poor Claudet, ” wailed registrar Seurrot, whom 
the wine had affected, "he will not have a penny 
of his father^ s fortune; I am so sorry!" 

After the lawyer’s departure, Julien resolved to 
transform into a study the room in which he had 
talked with M. Arbillot and to which they gave 
the name of "library," although it did not contain 
more than several hundred old books — books on 
hunting and manuals relative to agriculture. The 
room was spacious and lighted by two windows 
looking on the garden. The arrangement of the 
study took Julien several days and prevented him 


QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 81 

9 

from thinking too constantly of the trivial an- 
noyances occasioned him by the secret animosity 
of Manette and her son. 

To the horror of the castie servants, Julien 
sent to the lumber room the billiard-table at 
which Claude de Buxiereshad so often played in 
company with his associates. According to his 
instructions the village carpenter made the shelves 
destined to receive the books which were to 
arrive by the stage coach. 

That accomplished, Julien prepared to examine 
the papers left him by the notary in order to as- 
certain the nature of his incoioe. But the work 
which he thought very simple soon proved to be 
complicated. The notary had told him that 
Claudet was an expert at such matters, and 
although he disliked to solicit his aid he was 
forced to ask him for an explanation. 

Claudet responded with as much laconism and 
as little grace as accorded with his dignity. 
Julien then thought that he would apply to the 
debtors themselves whose names he found upon 

Claude’s books. They were for the most part 

Queen of the Woods — 6 


82 QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

rustics from the vicinity. They came to the 
castle, but when they entered Julien’ s presence, 
they discovered at once that before them w’as a 
man completely ignorant of the customs of the 
country and very poorly informed as to the 
affairs of Claude de Buxieres. The young man 
obtained no enlightenment from them. At the 
end. of a few days he became discouraged and 
downcast. About him were only aggressive 
people or those disposed to dupe him. He 
divined that in the eyes of the entire community 
he was an intruder. 

Although continually talking of going away. 
Manette Séjournant remained at the castle; her 
obsequious animosity was insupportable to 
Julien; but he lacked the necessary courage to 
either humble her or send her away. It almost 
seemed as if she were trying to render his life 
at Vivey so odious as to oblige him to beat a 
retreat. 

One November morning Julien arrived at such 
a state of depression and mental relaxation that 
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QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 83 

tioned if it would net be better to rent the castle 
and return to Nancy, to his tiny room in the Fau- 
bourg Saint-Jean where he could at least read, 
meditate, dream, without being tormented every 
moment by petty annoyances. His disposition 
was becoming embittered and his nerves unstrung. 

As he gave way to that weakness, the sound of 
a door opening and shutting caused him to start; 
he turned his head, and saw, advancing toward 
his work-table, a young peasant who smiled at 
him, and as she smiled he recognized Reine 
Vincart. Reine wore a linen bonnet, and the 
hooded mantle of the better class. Beneath the 
white bonnet, ornamented with a bow of black 
ribbon, her brown hair curled rebelliously. The 
cool, November air had slightly tinged her cheeks 
with pink, and her dark eyes peeped out roguish- 
ly from under their long lashes. 

“Good morning, M. de Buxieres,” she said to 
him, “I suppose you remember me. It is not 
very long since we met at the farm.” 

“Mile. Vincart! ” exclaimed Julien, his face 
lighting up. “Certainly I remember you! ” 


84 QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

He drew a chair near the fire and offered it to 
her. “The sight of the cordial hostess of La 
Thuiliere recalled the only pleasant memory of 
his stay at Vivey, ’ he repeated. 

‘T remember you, and I am charmed to see 
you. I should have been over to thank you for 
your kind hospitality — but I have had so much 
work,’’ and his face clouded over as he added, 
“and a great deal of worry.’’ 

“Is that so?’’ she asked. “Do not be offended, 
but that is evident; your features are drawn and 
your face is care-worn. Does not the air at Vivey 
agree with you?’’ 

“It is not the air,” replied julien, “it is the 
people who do not suit me. And,” he sighed, “I 
do not think I suit them any better. But it is 
enough that I am worried without worrying oth- 
ers! What can I do for you. Mile. Vincart? 
Do you want anything?” 

“Nothing at all!” cried Reine with a bright 
smile. “I not only do not want anything, but I 
have brought you something. Six hundred francs 
for a section we bought of the late M. de Bux 


QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 85 

ierss!” She drew from beneath her cloak a small 
canvas bag containing gold, five franc pieces and 
bank-notes. 

"Will you kindly look them over?” she contin^ 
ued, throwing the money on the table. "The 
amount should be there. Then, too, you must 
have it written down somewhere.” 

Julien fumbled vainly among the papers. At 
length vexed and impatient, he pushed aside all 
the documents, the loose leaves of which flew 
about the floor. 

"How can one find anything amid such a chaos 
of papers?” cried he. "I can not; and when I 
try to obtain any information from the people 
here, it seems to me that they are leagued to 
gether to keep me in ignorance, or to confuse me 
still more! Ah, Mile. Reine, you were right! 1 
cannot understand your peasants. At times I am 
tempted to leave this place where they scorn me 
and where they treat me as an enemy!” 

Reine glanced at him with an expression of 
compassionate surprise. She stooped quietly, 
gathered up the papers scattered at her feet and 


86 QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

placing them on the table, selected from among 
the heap a note which she held toward Julien. 

"See," said she, "here is your paper! Truly 
sir, it seems to me you lack patience. We peas- 
ants are not as bad as you think we are; only we 
do not trust strangers very much. With us, be- 
ginnings are always difficult. I know something 
about it. When I returned from Dijon to La 
Thuiliere, I had not any more experience than 
you and I had a great many vexations. Where 
would we be now if I had become disheartened 
the very first day?" 

Julien raised his eyes toward his interlocutor 
and blushed ; he felt ashamed of being lectured 
by that rustic maiden, who seemed much more 
manly than he was. 

"You reason like a man, Mme. Vincart," said 
he with timid admiration. "How old are you?" 

“Twenty-three; and how old are you, M. de 
Buxieres?" 

"Twenty-eight.” 

“There is not much difference, but you are my 
senior and what I have done you can surely do." 


QUEEh! OF THE JVOODS 87 ^ 

"Ah,” said he sighing, “you have a taste for 
activity and I for repose. I do not like to act.” 

"So much the worse!” replied Reine decisively. 
"A man should exhibit energy. M. de Bux- 
ieres, allow me to speak frankly to you! If you 
wish others to come to you, you must first throw 
off your reserve and come to them. If you wish 
your neighbors to have confidence in you, you 
must be frank and kind with them.” 

"That has not succeeded up to the present with 
two persons here,” replied Julien with a shake of 
his head. 

"Which persons?” 

"The Séjournants, mother and son. I have 
tried to be kind to Claudet and I have received 
nothing but rebuffs.” 

"Ah, you must excuse Claudet,” she said has- 
tily. "You could not expect him to receive one 
who supplanted him, very pleasantly.” 

“Supplanted? I do not understand.” 

"What,” cried Reine, "have they not told you 
anything? That was a mistake. At the risk of 
interfering in that which does not concern me, I 


8b QUEEN Of THE IV00D5 

think it better for you to know. Your cousin 
never married, but he had a child nevertheless. 
Claudet was his son and he intended to make 
him his heir. Everyone in the country knows 
that, for M. de Buxieres did not conceal the 
fact. ’’ 

Then, as modestly as possible, she gave Julien 
an idea as to ClaudeBs position at the castle and 
as to the late Claude de Buxieres* intentions. 

“Claudet is my cousin’s natural son?” mur- 
mured Julien. 

“Yes, and if M. de Buxieres had had time to 
write his will, you would not be here. But,” 
added the young girl with a blush, “do not tell 
Claudet that 1 have said anything. I have perhaps 
talked too much. M. de Buxieres, will you 
please count the money and give me a receipt?” 

She had arisen, and Julien looked in surprise at 
the pretty, sensible, business-like, rustic maiden. 
He bowed his head, gathered up the money lying 
on the table, wrote a receipt and handing it to 
Reine, said: 

“Thank you, mademoiselle; you are the first 


QUBE}^ OF THE IVOODS 


89 


person who has been frank with me and I am 
/ 

grateful to you for it.” 

"Good day, M. de Buxieres! ” 

She had taken several steps toward the door 
when he followed her awkwardly. She turned 
with a bright smile on her lips and in her eyes. 

"Courage! ” she added and left the room. 

Julien returned to his corner by the fire. Reine 
Vincart^s revelations had completely stunned him. 

Thanks to his inexperience, he had not for a 
moment suspected the true position of Manette 
and her son at the castle. And that young girl 
was to open his eyes! He felt humiliated at 
being so unobservant. After hearing Reiners 
story, Claudet^s attitude seemed to him compre- 
hensible and excusable. Indeed the boy was 
actuated by a sentiment of anger and pride quite 
natural. After all, he was the son of Claude de 
Buxieres — natural son it was true, but implicitly 
recognized, publicly acknowledged by his father. 
Had the latter taken time to complete the will 
they found, he would undoubtedy have constituted 
Claudet his heir. It was to an accident then that 


90 QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

Julien owed the fortune with which he was 
invested. 

“Now that the situation has been revealed to 
me, what is my duty?” Julien asked himself. 

The answer came: 

“Religion and honesty demand that you recom- 
pense Claudet for the wrong done him by the 
carelessness of Claude de Buxieres." 

Reine had merely stated the facts of the case 
without offering any advice, but it was evident 
that she considered there was an injustice to make 
reparation for. Julien knew that were he to do so, 
he would earn the respect and admiration of the 
mistress of La Thuiliere and he took secret sat- 
isfaction in assuring himself of it. He weighed 
the matter well all morning, then he rose and 
leaving the library, he repaired to the kitchen 
where Manette was preparing lunch. 

"Where is your son?” he asked. "I wish to 
speak to him.” 

Manette glanced at him with a puzzled air. 

“My boy,” said she, “is in the garden, busy 
making a box in which to pack his effects, for 


QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 91 

he does not wish to remain here any longer a 
burden to others. And, M. de Buxieres, you 
must find a servant to take my place for we shall 
not remain the rest of the week!” 

Without replying Julien passed through the 
door leading into the garden and indeed found 
Claudet busy as his mother had said. Although 
he saw the heir of the Buxieres approach, he did 
not pay any heed to him. 

“M. Claudet,” said Julien, “can you spare me 
a few moments? I have something to say to 
you. ” 

Claudet raised his head, hesitated a moment, 
then throwing aside his hammer and putting on 
his jacket, he muttered: 

“I am at your service." 

Leaving the shed, they sauntered along a walk 
beside which flowed a brook. 

“Sir,” said Julien suddenly halting, “pardon 
me for broaching a delicate subject, but it is 
necessary, seeing that I know all.” 

✓ 

“What do you know?” asked Claudet, turning 
scarlet. 


92 QUEBh^ OF THE JVOODS 

"I know that you are my cousin’s son, ” replied 
the young man. 

Claudet frowned. 

"Ah,” he interrupted, "my mother’.^ tongue has 
been wagging, or else that magpie of a notary has 
been chattering to you!" 

"No neither your mother: nor M. Arbillot has 
told me; what I know I learned from a stranger; 
and I know too that you would be master here 
if Claude de Buxieres had taken the precaution 
to make his will. His negligence has caused a 
wrong which it is my place to make right!" 

"Ah!” exclaimed Claudet. Then he muttered 
between his teeth; "You need do nothing — the 
law is on your side." 

"I am not in the habit of consulting the law 
when duty is in the question. Moreover, M. de 
Buxieres treated you openly as his son; had he 
recognized you legally as he should have done, 
you would have a claim, even in default of a 
will, on a share of the property. That share I 
have come to offer you and to ask you to accept." 

Claudet opened his wild, brown eyes in sur- 













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OUEEh! OF THE IVOODS 


93 


prise. The proposition seemed to him so improb- 
able that he thought he was dreaming. 

"You — you offer me a part of the fortune?” he 
stammered. 

"Yes, and I am ready to sign a promise if you 
wish it. ” 

Claudet shrugged his shoulders. 

"I only ask one condition,” continued Julien. 

"What is it?” asked Claudet, who was still 
upon the defensive. 

"It is that you will continue to live here with 
me and do as you did in your father’s time.” 

By that time Claudet began to feel affected, 
although a sort of savage pride prevented him 
from yielding to emotion and arrested the words 
of gratitude upon his lips. 

"What you have done is generous, sir,” he 
murmured, "but you have not reflected carefully; 
you may regret it later on. By remaining here, 
I should annoy you.” 

"On the contrary, you would render me a serv- 
ice, for I am incapable of managing the prop- 
erty," said Julien, candidly. Then, growing 


94 QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

more communicative in proportion as his con- 
science became satisfied: 

"You see, "he cried, "I have no false pride. 
Come cousin, do not be prouder than I am and 
freely accept what I offer you with all my heart. ” 

When he ceased speaking, his hand was gasped 
and cordially shaken. 

"You are a true Buxieres! "said Claudet in a 
husky voice, "I accept — thank you! In ex- 
change for your kindness I have nothing to give 
but my friendship. But that is as firm as a' 
rock and it shall be yours while there is breath 
in my body. 


IV. 


Winter, with all its inclemencies, rain, snow 
and hail, arrived; the streams were swollen and 
the sharp north wind roared. Snow had been 
falling for an entire week. The roads had be* 
come impassable. Vivey lay wrapped in a 
snowy mantle. From the door of the castle to 
the gate, a narrow path had been trodden down 
by the servants’ wooden shoes. Within large 
fires blazed in the grates, scarcely heating the 
lofty rooms. Julien de Buxieres was chilled 
physically and mentally. His generous conduct 
toward Claudet had, indeed, gained his heart, 
rendered Manette as tractable as a lamb, and 
turned the tide of popular opinion in the village 
in his favor — but, though the life materially had 
grown more bearable, he felt the chill of intel- 
lectual solitude none the less. Now that 
Claudet had resumed the charge of all the details 

of the business, Julien found the time too long. 

95 


96 QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

His favorite books could not fill the void of the 
dull hours which dragged slowly along from 
morning until night. Manette’s chatter, Claudet’s 
hunting anecdotes had no interest for young 
Buxieres, and the friendships he had tried to 
form outside of home only wearied him. 

His first visit had been to the pastor of Vivey, 
with whom he had hoped to be able to converse 
on subjects in harmony with his tastes; but he 
was doomed to disappointment. 

Abbe Pernot was a man fifty years of age who 
thought more of performing his daily duties than 
of study. When he had said mass, read his bre- 
viary and confessed his devotees, he gave the re- 
mainder of his time to harmless distraction. He 
was somewhat inclined to stoutness, with a jolly, 
round face, black eyes, smiling lips, thin, gray 
hair and a cordial manner. When Julien entered 
the parsonage, he found the parson in a small 
room which served as his study and which was 
filled with objects having no connection with his 
religious functions: snares for larks, fishing nets, 
stuffed birds and a collection of beetles. At the 

















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QUEEN OF THE IVOODS ' 97 

end of the room was a ponderous book-case con- 
taining a number of volumes which seemed to 
have been well used. 

The parson, seated in a corner by the fire on 
a low stool, his cassock drawn up over his knees, 
was dissolving some bird-lime in an earthen 
saucepan. 

"Good morning, M. de Buxieres, ” said he in 
his loud, jolly voice; "you have surprised me at 
work which is not very priest- like. lam prepar- 
ing bird-lime to put in the woods when the snow 
has melted. I am not merely a curer of souls 
but a catcher of birds as well — less to divert my 
mind than to enrich my collection. 

"Your charge allows you considerable leisure? " 
asked Julien with some astonishment. 

"Yes — yes — enough. The parish is not very 
large, as you have seen. My parishioners are all 
excellent people, thank God, and they live to be 
very old. I have scarcely more than two or three 
marriages annually and as many burials. So one 
must do something in order not to fall into sloth- 
ful habits. Every man should have a hobby! 

Queen of the Woods — 7 


98 QUEEï^ OF THE IVOODS 

Mine is ornithology! What is yours, M. de 
Buxieres?” 

Julien felt tempted to reply: “Mine at present 
is ennui!" He was disposed to open his heart 
and to confess his trials to the priest, but instinct 
warned him that Abbe Pernot was not the man 
to understand the subtle complexities of his 
psychological condition and he answered briefly: 

“I read a great deal. I have at the castle a 
large collection of religious and historical works 
which are entirely at your service, sir." 

“A thousand thanks," said Abbe Pernot. “I 
am not, however, a great thinker, and . my few 
books suffice me. Moreover too much reading 
gives me the headache. I require exercise and 
fresh air. Do you hunt or flsh, M. de Buxieres?" 

“I do neither." 

"That is a pity. You will find the time hang 
heavy on your hands in this part of the country 
where diversion is not very plentiful. Bah, you 
cannot read continually, and when fine weather 
comes, you will yield to tenaptation, especially 
as you are so near Claudet Séjournant, a fellow 


QUEË>^ OF THE tVOODS 99 

who knows how to kill a woodcock or to catch a 
trout. The trout in the Aubette, M. de Buxieres 
are excellent — salmon trout." 

A pause ensued. Abbe Pernot divined that that 
conversation did not interest his guest and he said: 

"Let me congratulate you, sir, with regard to 
Claudet. You have acted justly and Christian- 
like in making reparation for the late Claude de 
Buxieres’ inconceivable wrong. Claudet, too, 
deserves what you have done for him. He is a 
fine fellow, a trifle too passionate and hasty per- 
haps, but he has a heart of gold. Ah, the de- 
ceased could not disown him; he has the blood of 
the Buxieres in his veins!” 

"My cousin Claude,” timidly ventured Julien, 
rising, "was, if one can believe dame rumor, 
given to carnal pleasure.” 

"Yes, yes,” sighed Abbe Pernot, "he was wild! 
But what a shot he was! In spite of his faults, 
he had many good qualities, and I like to think 
that he is in heaven!" 

Julien took leave of the Abbe and returned to 
the castle discouraged. 


100 QUEEN OF THE JVOODS 

"That priest," thought he, "is too much at- 
tached to worldly things; I can count upon him 
no more than upon any of the others." 

Of all the persons he had met since his arrival 
at Vivey, only one had seemed sympathetic and 
attractive and that one was — Reine Vincart. But 
Reine was a woman, and he feared women. He 
thought with Ecclesiastes: 

"And I find more bitter than death the woman 
whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands as 

bands ; whoso pleaseth God shall escape from her. " 

So he was more than ever reduced to his books 

and reflections, while his hypochondria returned. 

About the beginning of January, the snow which 
had covered the valley of Vivey, gradually melted; 
a return of frost rendered the woods accessible 
to the huntsmen. Every day the forest resounded 
with their cries and the barking of dogs. 

One evening, Claudet, seeing Julien more 
gloomy than he usually was, felt a sentiment of 
pity for the man who knew so little how to em- 
ploy his time, his youth and his money. He 
looked upon it as his duty to rouse him from his 


QUEEl^ OF THE IVOODS 101 

state of moroseness and to initiate him into the 
delights of a rural life. 

“You are getting wearied here, M. Julien,” said 
he, kindly. "I am sorry to see you thus; you 
will ruin your health if you remain shut up with 
your books so closely. Believe me, you will have 
to change your habits or you will become ill. 
If you will give 3 ^ourself up to me, I will under- 
take to cure you of your ennui in a week.” 

“What is your remedy, Claudet?” asked Julien 
with a smile. 

“It is very simple; it is to leave your books 
since thej^ have not succeeded in diverting you, 
and to live like other folks! Your ancestors, the 
Buxieres, followed that plan and they never re- 
gretted it. If you are in Rome you must do as 
the Romans do.” 

“My dear friend,” replied Julien, shaking his 
head, “one cannot change oneself. The Romans 
themselves would bid me return to my books.” 

“Bah, just try! You do not know what pleas- 
ure one can derive from the woods. You have 
no idea of the appetite one obtains from such 


103 QUEE}^ OF THE IVOODS 

exercise and how merrily one can lunch seated 
with a circle of associates at the base of a tree! 
Zounds! While you are young, enjoy your youth! 
It will be time enough to mope in a corner by 
the fire when 5^011 have the rheumatism. You 
will reply that you are not a hunter and that you 
do not know how to handle a gun. That is it 
exactly. But the appetite comes as you eat, and 
when you have tasted the pleasures of the chase, 
you will desire to imitate your comrades. See 
here, to-morrow we have organized a party to 
Charbonnière: you know some of the gentlemen: 
Justice Destourbet, Registrar Seurrot, M. Arbil- 
lot and M. Boucheseiche. Will you join us.^^ 
There will be lunch and laughter, and you will 
see some good shooting, that ITl wager!" 

At first Julien refused, but Claudet insisted 
and represented the advisability of cultivating 
the acquaintance of the gentlemen from Auberive, 
— people of whom he might have need at any 
instant — people in whom was embodied the law 
of the canton. He pleaded so eloquently, that 
young Buxieres finally gave in. 


QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 


103 


Manette set to work at once to prepare the 
edibles which Hutinet was to take to Belle Etoile 
and it was decided that they would leave for 
that point at eight o’clock. 

The morning arrived. Claudet and Julien 
started with their dogs; they were welcomed joy- 
ously by the party from Auberive on their arrival. 

Justice Destourbet shook hands ceremoniously 
with the new master of the castle. Notary Arbil- 
lot advanced toward Claudet, drew him aside and 
showing him a stuffed animal, said: 

"Look here, we shall have some fun. When 
I was at Abbe Pernot’s this morning, I stole a 
stuffed squirrel." He leaned toward Claudet and 
very mysteriously whispered the remainder of 
his confidence in his ear, a mischievous light 
dancing in his black eyes. "It will be a good 
joke,” he continued, "to play on Boucheseiche." 

Then he drew Claudet and Hutinet toward one 
of the trenches, when they vanished in the midst. 
During that colloquy. Collector Boucheseiche, 
against whom they were plotting, had monopo- 
lized Julien de Buxieres, 


104 


QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 


Justin Boucheseiche was a remarkably ugly man, 
large, bony, with a freckled face, red hair and 
hairy hands. He wore a brand new hunting cos- 
tume; gaiters, metal helmet and a jacket with a 
number of pockets for holding cartridges. He 
pretended to be an expert hunter, although he 
was, m truth, the most awkard shot in the canton. 

At luncheon the hunters did justice to Manette’ s 
viands. By tne time the wine went the rounds, 
their tongues were loosened. Julien, scandalized, 
was again forced to listen to coarse jests which 
caused the blood to rush to his brow. Finally 
the meal was ended and they arose. As they 
passed along one of the trenches, the notary 
stopped at the foot of a beech tree, and, taking 
the collector’s arm, whispered: "Collector, look 
up there in that bough at that fellow with the 
defiant air! ” at the same time pointing to a 
squirrel sitting on its hind-legs. The animal, 
its ears pricked up, its fore-paws raised to its 
mouth, seemed in the act of cracking a nut. 

"A squirrel! " exclaimed impetuous Bouche- 
seiche. 


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QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 105 

“Let no one touch him, sirs; I will settle his 
account." The other hunters stood near him, 
smiling slyly. The collector raised his gun 
aimed at the squirrel and fired. 

"Hit!” he exclaimed triumphantly, when the 
smoke had disappeared. Indeed the animal had 
slipped from its sitting posture, but had not 
fallen. 

"It’s reviving,” said the notary in a jeering 
tone. 

"Ah, you shall revive to-morrow!” cried 
Boucheseiche beside himself, and in his rage he 
fired a second shot; the animal remained in the 
same position. There was a general titter. 

"He is obstinate!” said the registrar with a 
cunning smile. 

Boucheseiche in amazement looked alternately 
at the tree and at his companions. 

“If I were in your place, collector,” hinted 
Claudet, “I would climb up in order to see.” 

But Justin Boucheseiche was no climber. He 
turned to a boy who was with the party and 
said: 


lOG QUEEh! OF THE JVOODS 

"I will give you ten sous if you will climb the 
tree and bring me the squirrel." He did not 
have to repeat his offer. In a trice the boy 
mounted the tree; arrived at the bough in which 
the squirrel was lodged, he uttered an exclama- 
tion. 

‘‘Well ’ cried the collector impatiently, "throw 
him down.” 

"I can’t, sir," replied the boy, "the squirrel 
is fastened with a wire." 

The spectators burst into a roar of laughter. 

"With a wire, wretch! You are making sport of 
me," yelled Boucheseiche. "Come down at once! " 

"Here it is, sir," said the boy, laying the 
squirrel at the collector’s feet. 

When Boucheseiche discovered that it was 
stuffed, he swore roundly. 

‘'Who played this trick on me?" he asked. 
But the huntsmen held their sides. Ironical con- 
gratulations resounded from all quarters. 

"Bravo, Boucheseiche." 

"That is game that one does not often find." 

"Let us carry Boucheseiche in triumph!" 


QUEEN OF THE IVOODS " 107 

Notary Arbillot broke off a sprig of ivy and 
crowned Boucheseiche with it, while the rest 
clapped their hands and capered around the col- 
lector who was forced to join in the general 
mirth. 

Julien de Buxieres alone did not participate 
in the hilarity. It vexed him that he could not 
enjoy that rather vulgar gayety. Without a word 
to Claudet, he waited until the hunters had 
scattered among the brush wood, and following 
a path which led in an opposite direction be 
left the band. The path led toward Planche au 
Vacher. Julien followed it slowly, experiencing 
a melancholy pleasure in making the frosty 
leaves crackle beneath his feet. It was a dreary 
sound which harmonized with his morose re- 
flections. He was ashamed of the piteous face 
he had made during lunch. He acknowledged 
that although twenty-eight he was older and less 
active than any of these rustics, although they, 
with the exception of Claudet, were all past forty. 

Having never had any childhood was he doomed 
to have no youth? While others took pleasure 


108 QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

in the slightest amusement, why did life seem 
so insipid and dull to him? Nothing affected 
him — everything seemed to him one perpetual 
repetition, a story told for the hundredth time. 
He was ashamed of his infirmities; he walked 
along, not knowing whither he was going. It was 
foggy and it was not until he had gone some dis- 
tance that he perceived the court and the facades 
of La Thiuliere. He halted near the walk to 
look at an unexpected sight. 

In the center of the yard stood Reine Vincart, 
her back towards Julien. She held her apron 
with one hand, and with the other took from that 
improvised sack a handful of grain which she 
threw to the birds flying around her. Every 
moment the band increased in numbers; among 
them were blackbirds with yellow beaks, robins 
and tomtits. It was a charming sight. When 
the food was exhausted, the young girl, shaking 
out her apron, turned and saw Julien leaning 
upon the wall. 

"Are you there, M. de Buxieres?" she cried. 
"Come into the yard! Do not be afraid ; they 


QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 109 

have finished their dinner! Those are my pen- 
sioners," she added, pointing to the birds; "since 
the last snow I have given them some grain 
every day. I believe they tell one another, 
for they grow in numbers. But I am not com- 
plaining! Several of them know me and are quite 
familiar. " 

As she talked he was seeking some pretext 
for remaining longer, but his habitual timid- 
ity paralyzed his tongue, and he was raising 
his hat in order to take leave of her when Reine 
said: 

"I cannot ask you to come in, for I am obliged 
to go to the woods to see the wood-cutters who 
are improving the lot we bought of you. I 
believe, M. de Buxieres, that you are not yet 
familiar with your woods?" 

"That is true," he replied with a smile. 

"Very well, if you will accompany me, I will 
show you the district which is under cultiva 
tion. It will not be a loss of time, for it would 
be well that the people who work for you should 
know you are interested in their work." 


no QUEEN OF THE IFOODS 

Julien replied that he would be happy to be 
guided by her. 

“In that case,” said Reine, “wait for me. I 
will be with you in an instant." 

Several moments later she reappeared in a 
white hood and knitted, woolen shawl. 

“This way," said she taking a path across the 
fields. 

At first they walked along in silence. The 
sky had cleared, the breeze was cool. Never 
had Julien de Buxieres been alone for so long a 
time with a young woman. He felt uneasy and 
at the same time delighted at the opportunity 
which permitted him to improve his acquaintance 
with the girl toward whom he was attracted by 
a secret sympathy. He did not know how to 
begin the conversation and the more he racked 
his brains, the less he could think. 

Reine came .to his aid. 

"Well, M. de Buxieres, are matters going to 
please you now? You behaved very generously 
to Claudet, and he ought to be content.” 

'Has he told you?” 




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QUEEÎ^ OF THE IVOODS 


111 


"No, but I am posted nevertheless. Good news, 
as well as bad, spreads very quickly and all the 
village is singing your praises." 

"I only did a very simple and just thing," 
replied Julien. 

"Simple and just things are the most difficult 
to do. And accordingly as they are done, one 
judges the character.’’ 

"Have you judged me favorably, Mile. Vin- 
cart?” he hazarded with a timid smile. 

"Yes, but my opinion is of very little impor- 
tance. You should be satisfied yourself — that is 
essential. I am sure your life at Vivey will be 
more agreeable now." 

"Hum, more supportable, certainly." 

The conversation ceased again. As they neared 
the borders of the woods, they heard the barking 
of dogs, the sound of voices and two shots fired. 

"Ha!" said Reine, "a party from Auberive is 
hunting in the woods and Claudet must be of 
the party. Why did you not accompany them?" 

"He brought me along and I lunched with the 
gentlemen. But I must confess, Mademoiselle 


113 


QUEEh! OF THE IVOODS 


Reine, those pleasures have very little charm 
for me; at the first chance offered, I slipped 
away." 

"You did wrong! Those gentlemen will be 
insulted for they are very sensitive. You see 
when one lives among people one must submit 
to their customs and not turn up one’s nose at 
their amusements.’’ 

"You repeat what Claudet said last night." 

"Claudet was right.” 

"What shall I do? I do not care for hunting; 

I do not take any interest in the slaughter of 
innocent beasts." 

"I understand that you do not like hunting for 
the sake of hunting. But the exercise in the 
open air, in the woods? Our forests are so beau- 
tiful! See, does not that speak a language of 
its own?" And she pointed from the height upon 
which they stood to the forest enveloped in a 
fairy-like and virginal robe. 

"Yes, it is pretty," acknowledged Julien; "I 
have never paid any attention to such sights; it 
is you who have caused me to notice them for 


QUEEN OF THE H^OODS 113 

the first time. But,” he added with a sigh, “as 
the sun rises higher, all that phantasmagoria will 
melt and vanish. The beauty is short-lived and 
it is an admonition to us not to place too much 
value on perishable things.” 

Reine glancad at him in astonishment. 

“Do you think so?” she cried. “I am not 
learned enough to answer you. All that I know 
is that if God created those beautiful things, he 
did so for us to enjoy them. And that is why 
I admire our woods. Ah, if 3"ou could see them 
in June when the leaves are fully out! There are 
flowers everywhere: yellow, blue, crimson! 
There is music everywhere too: that of the birds 
and streams; and everything smells so sweetly; 
the limes, the wild cherry trees, the bushes, red 
with berries! Whatever you may say, M. de 
Buxieres, I assure you that the beauty of the 
forest is not a perishable thing. It is renewed 
each season — in autumn when the wild fruits 
and leaves give it colors so rich; in winter, with 
its carpet of snow from which the tall beeches 

rise so high. Look!” 

Queen of the Woods — 8 


114 QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

They were beneath the trees; over their heads 
was an arch of interlacing branches, about them 
an almost religious silence. 

“Is it not grand?’’ asked Reine, with animation. 
“One could fancy oneself in a cathedral! Oh, 
yes, I love the forest! I feel tempted to pray!” 

Julien looked at her with uneasy admiration. 
She trod as if in a church — so softly. Her white 
hood had fallen upon her shoulders and her hair, 
slightly disordered, formed a brown aureole 
around her olive face. Her almond-shaped e3^es, 
sparkled beneath their long lashes and her deli- 
cate nostrils dilated. Among such surroundings 
she resembled a priestess of some mysterious 
temple of nature. At that moment she looked so 
true a picture of her name, “Queen of the 
Woods,’’ that Julien, while moved by her pecul- 
iar beauty, shuddered superstitiously as he re- 
called the legends of his childhood. He asked 
himself if, like the Lamias and Dryads of old, 
that “Queen of the Woods’’ was not an elemen- 
tary spirit embodied in the form of a woman, 
sent to ruin his soul. 


QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 115 

He followed her fearfully at a distance. Sud- 
denly she turned as if to bid him hasten. He 
then perceived that they had reached the end of 
the forest of old trees, and that before them the 
section spread its glades; among the trees rose 
a cloud of smoke which indicated the encamp- 
ment of the wood-cutters. 

Reine proceeded in that direction and presented 
the new master to the workmen. They bowed 
awkwardly and glanced sharply and somewhat 
roughly at him in the manner of mountain peas- 
ants receiving a stranger. 

The head woodman, replying to Reiners re- 
marks, said in a familiar tone: 

“Make yourself easy, mademoiselle, they will 
act for the best. If you will come with me, you 
will see that the men are net standing idle. They 
are about to cut down an oak, and in less than 
fifteen minutes it will be on the ground, cut as 
neatly as if with a razor.” 

They approached the spot whence came the 
sounds of blows given with an axe. The gigantic 
tree did not seem to feel them; it stood there 


116 


QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 


proudly and impassively. Then the blows re- 
doubled; it was shaken from base to summit. 
The blows fell thick and fast, but the oak had 
regained its impassibility and stoically bore the 
assaults of the woodmen. To see it so erect and 
grand, one would have declared it would never 
yield. Suddenly the men drew back ; there was 
a moment of solemn expectation; abruptly the 
enormous tree swayed and fell with a tragical 
sound of crashing branches. 

With unconscious emotion the men glanced at 
the oak lying upon the ground. 

Reine had turned pale; her dark eyes were 
tearful. 

“Let us go," she whispered to Julien de Bux- 
ieres, “the death of that tree has affected me as 
if it had been the death of a human being." 

They took leave of the woodmen and turned 
homeward. Reine did not speak, and her com- 
panion did not know how to renew the conversa- 
tion, so they walked along in silence until they 
saw the chimneys of Vivey. 

“You have only to go straight ahead to get 


QIJEE}^ OF THE IVOODS 


117 


home,” said she briefly. “Good-bye, M. de Bux- 
ieres. ” 

They separated and he watched her slowly dis- 
appear in the distance. 


V 


In the mountainous district of which we are 
writing, spring does not begin until the end of 
May. Until that time the cold weather contin- 
ues. Hoar frost and April showers arrest vege- 
tation and allow nothing but small, sickly buds 
to appear at the ends of the branches. But, at 
the approach of June when the sun has warmed 
the earth, a sudden metamorphosis occurs. One 
night sometimes suffices to produce a spring-like 
efflorescence. 

In the park, in the village orchards, spring was 
donning her festal garments. Unconsciously 
Julien de Buxieres inhaled the fragrance which 
was new to him, and in his over-excitement, he 
thought once more of Reine Vincart, of that 
“Queen of the Woods" who, to him, was the per- 
sonification of the enchantments of the forest. 

Since their walk in January among the trees of 
Charbonnière, he had seen her occasionally; some- 

xi8 


QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 119 

times on Sunday in the tiny church at \’'ivey, 
sometimes at a corner of the road. They had 
exchanged ceremonious bows, but they had not 
spoken. 

More than once at nightfall, Julien had stopped 
at the court-yard of La Thuiliere, to gaze at the 
farm windows. He had not dared to knock at 
the door; foolish timidity restrained him. He 
returned to the castle discontented and reproach- 
ing himself for his awkwardness, which was like 
a wall between him and the only person with 
whom intimacy seemed desirable. 

At other times startled at the large share of 
his thoughts occupied by a woman, he congratu- 
lated himself on having resisted the dangerous 
temptation of seeing Mile. Vincart again. He 
confessed secretly that that strange girl exercised 
a power over him against which he should have 
to be on his guard. 

Reine lived comparatively alone at La Thu- 
iliere, for her father could not be considered 
any protection. Julien* s visits might compro- 
mise her, and the young man’s principles 


120 QUEEN OF THE JVOODS 

forbade him causing a scandal he could not 
atone for. He did not dream of marriage, and 
had he done so, the social laws which he had 
always obeyed would have vetoed his marrying a 
peasant. Honesty and prudence, therefore, com- 
manded him to conduct himself toward Mile. 
Vincart with rigorous reserve. Nevertheless 
Reine’s image haunted him. She exercised over 
Julien a potent charm. He had never ventured 
to broach the subject to Claudet. Each time 
that the name of Reine Vincart arose to his lips 
a secret modesty together with his native timid- 
ity, prevented him from questioning Claudet as 
to the character of that mysterious “Queen of 
the Woods.” 

Claudet’ s keen eyes perceived that his efforts 
to cheer M. de Buxieres met with no success. 
He attempted to discover to what cause that sud- 
den access of melancholy was owing, and finally 
concluded that it proceeded from an excess of 
knowledge. 

“M. de Buxieres,” said Claudet to him one 
evening when they were walking silently side by 













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QUEE>] OF THE IVOODS 131 

side in the park, "one thing grieves me; it is 
that you have no confidence in me.” 

"What makes you think so, Claudet?” asked 
Julien in surprise. 

"Your actions; you are very uncommunicative. 
When you wished to repair Claude de Buxieres' 
wrong, and when you offered me a home with 
you, I accepted without any hesitation. I hoped 
that when you gave me a place at your table, you 
would give me one in your heart, and that you 
would allow me to share your cares and your joys 
as a comrade." 

"I assure you, my dear friend, that you are 
mistaken. If I had any serious trouble you should 
be the first to know them.” 

"It is all very well to talk — you are bored, 
however! that can be seen in your face; and 
would you like me to tell you why? Because you 
are too wise, M. de Buxieres, and because you 
need a wife to divert your mind.” 

"Oh, oh,” replied Julien with a blush, "would 
you like to marry me off, Claudet?” 

"That would be a difficult matter. No, but I 


122 QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

should at least like to see you take notice of 
some woman — a jolly girl who would cheer you 
up; there is no lack of them here; indeed, it 
would bother you to make your choice.” 

M. de Buxieres colored again and looked dis- 
concerted. 

“That is a singular proposition to make,” he 
cried; “do you take me for a libertine?” 

“Do not get on your high horse, M. de Bux- 
ieres! Those of whom I speak have always got 
their caps set in the forest trees.” 

“I care not for them; I am not the kind of 
man you think me, Claudet; I do not enjoy such 
pleasures. ” 

“They are, however, the pleasures of people of 
our age. Perhaps you are timid because you 
exaggerate the difficulties? It is very easily done 
— an arm is slipped around a waist, two kisses 
adroitly bestowed and the rest is simple!” 

“Enough,” interrupted Julien, severely; “I will 
not listen to you!” 

“As you wish, M. de Buxieres. If I broached 
the subject it was because, seeing that you cared 


QUEE}^ OF THE IVOODS 123 

little for the chase or for fishing, I fancied you 
might perhaps like to hunt other game. Indeed, 
I should like to divert you somewhat!” added 
Claudet, mortified at the failure of his proposals. 
“See here, will you go to the woods with me to- 
morrow? The colliers finished building their 
cabin this evening and expect to dedicate it to- 
morrow. They call it ^watering ,the bouquet,^ 
and on that occasion they hold a festival to which 
we, as well as the purchasers of the section, are 
invited. Of course the guests pay their tribute 
in bottles of wine! You must not neglect appear- 
ing amongst those good people, for it is the cus- 
tom. I have promised to be there and Reine 
Vincart, who has bought the lot, will surely not 
fail to assist at the ceremony.” 

Julien was just about to decline Claudet’ s offer 
when the sound of Reine Vincart’ s name caused 
him to change his mind. For a moment he won- 
dered if Claudet had not mentioned her as a bait 
and an argument in support of his theories on 
free love in the country. However that might 
have been, the mention of the possible presence 


124 QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

of Mlle.Vincart at the fete, rendered young Bux- 
ieres more tractable, and he offered no more 
resistance. 

The following day, after a hasty lunch, they 
set out together for the section. The men had 
established themselves at no great distance from 
the cutting in which in the month of January, 
Reine and Julien had visited the wood-cutters. 

Beneath the shade of an enormous beech tree, 
rose the hut with its peat-covered roof, and on 
the site of the cleared ground two furnaces had 
been built — one of them was entirely finished, 
the other in course of conscruction. 

The colliers were coming and going; among 
them was the master-collier, a middle-aged man 

with a tanned face and small, glittering eyes; 

% 

his wife, shriveled and thin, his daughter, a girl 
of seventeen, likewise thin, with hair disheveled 
and a cunning face; the master’s three sons — ro- 
bust boys who served as apprentices. In addi- 
tion to those, there were the daughters of several 
woodmen attracted by the prospect of a day of 
dancing and feasting. All were scattered about 


QUEEh! OF THE JVOODS 125 

under the trees awaiting the dinner, the food for 
which was brought principally by those invited; 
the part contributed by the colliers being limited 
to a dish of potatoes, which the master’s wife 
had cooked in a large caldron over a fire lighted 
in front of the cabin. 

The arrival of Julien and Claudet, accompanied 
by a boy who carried a load of provisions, was 
hailed with cries of satisfaction and welcome. 
While one of the apprentice colliers carefully 
unpacked the loaves of bread, the enormous pasty 
and the bottles encased in straw. Reine Vincart 
appeared among the trees, followed by a farm- 
hand laden with a basket from which peeped 
forth the necks of bottles and the end of a smoked 
ham. 

At the sight of the young mistress of La Thu- 
iliere, the cheers rang out more lustily. 

Under the verdant shades of the beeches 
Reine seemed to Julien more attractive than 
among the branches powdered with frost. Her 
spring costume, simple and rustic, suited her 
admirably; a light blue and yellow striped 


120 QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

skirt; a jacket of plain material with a low 
collar laced with blue ribbon, and a bunch of 
flowers at her breast completed her toilet. 
She wore stout shoes and a straw hat which she 
carelessly left in the cottage on her arrival. 
Among those sunburned, blackened countenances, 
her face with its delicate oval, her black eyes, 
her smiling, red lips, her thick, brown hair, 
dressed low, cast a radiance over the fete. She 
was like a triumphant image of the "Queen of 
the Woods" springing up among her rural sub- 
jects. As an emblem of her woodland royalty 
she pressed to her bosom an enormous bouquet of 
wild flowers gathered on her way — haw-thorn, 
grasses and scarlet poppies. They emitted a 
sweet fragrance and the pollen from them had 
powdered the young girPs brows and hair. 

"See, M. Theotime," said she, holding her sheaf 
toward the collier, "I gathered these for the bou- 
quet they are to plant on the roof of your lodge." 

She then advanced toward Claudet, shook hands 
with him and bowed to Julien. "Good morning, 
M. de Buxieres, I am pleased to see you here. 


QUEEN THE IVOODS 127 

Did Claudet bring you or did you come of 
your own free will?” 

While Julien was awkwardly casting about for a 
reply, she left them, passing from group to group 
and watching with interest the placing of the bou- 
quet in position. One of the colliers climbed to 
the thatched roof by means of a ladder and fast- 
ened it to a staff. When the flowers were fixed, 
he waved his felt hat, crying: "How — houp!” 

That was the signal for all to assemble at the 
table. The food had been spread upon a 
cloth under the shade of a beech tree and alj the 
guests seated themselves around it upon sacks 
filled with coals. For Reine and Julien were 
reserved two stools made by the master collier, 
and these stools were ranged side by side. 

When the keen edge was somewhat taken off 
the appetites of the assembly, tongues began to 
loosen. 

Did Reine’ s presence impose a certain re- 
straint upon these people? Julien noticed that 
the remarks made by them were infinitely les 
broad than those of the citizens of Auberives 


1ÎÎ8 QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

with whom he had once lunched; the gayety kept 
within the bounds of decency and did not call a 
blush to his cheek. 

He felt more at ease with those peasants 
than with the worthies from the borough and he 
no longer regretted having accompanied Claudet. 

"I am glad that I came," he murmured as a 
compliment in Reiners ear. "1 have eaten with 
such relish.” 

‘‘Well, that is fine! ” gayly replied the girl. 
‘‘Perhaps you will now like our woods.” 

When nothing more remained on the cloth 
but bones and empty porringers, M. Theotime 
took a bottle of wine, uncorked it and filled the 
glsses. 

“Now,” said he, “before watering the bouquet, 
we will drink to M. de Buxieres who brought 
us this excellent wine, and to our charming 
Mile. Vincart.” 

Glasses clinked and many were emptied. 

“Mile. Reine,” continued M. Theotime with 
gravity, “you see the lodge is built, we will 
sleep there to-night, — and I hope will do good 















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QfJEEN OF THE IVOODS 


129 


work here. You can see from here that our 
first furnace is built and ready to light. But 
that it may bring good-luck to us, you must 
light the fire yourself. Will you throw in 
the first embers? 

"Gladly; ” cried Reine. 

Come, M. de Buxieres, you must see how a 
furnace is lighted." 

All rose noisily; one of the men took the 
ladder and put it in place. Meanwhile M. 
Theotime brought an earthen vessel filled with 
lighted coals. Reine climbed the ladder nimbly, 
arrived at the top, and stood erect near the 
opening. One by one she took the shovelfuls of 
coal which the collier handed her and cast 
them into the chimney. A crackling sound 
within was followed by a dull roar; the small 
bits of wood and twigs collected at the bottom 
had ignited. 

"Bravo! that is it!" exclaimed M. Theo- 
time. 

"Bravo! " repeated the young people. Boys 

and girls joined hands and danced around the 

Queen of the Woods — g 


m QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

furnace. “Reine, a roundel! sing us a roundel!" 
cried the maidens. 

Reine, standing at the top of the ladder, with- 
out requiring any urging, sang a popular ballad 
in a clear, well-pitched voice. Repeating the 
refrain, the lads and lasses tripped merrily 
around. 

Leaning against the trunk of a tree, Julien 
listened to Reine’ s melodious voice and did no^ 
remove his eyes from the singer’s fa??. \V.;en 
she had finished her song. Reine descended the 
steps of the ladder; but the dancers had been 
infected by that first song, they could not remain 
in their places; one of the colliers in his turn 
struck up a popular air which the entire band 
repeated in unison. Carried away by the rhythm, 
they danced on. 

With the exception of Theotime and his wife, 
who had gone to watch the furnace, all the 
guests, including Claudet, had joined the dance. 
Only Reine and Julien remained beneath the 
trees. It was noon and the heat of the sun made 
the shade desirable. Reine proposed to her com- 


QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 131 

panion that they enter the lodge and remain there 
until the return of the dancers. Julien accepted, 
very much astonished that the young girl should 
propose a tete-a-tete in an obscure cottage. Al- 
though he was more fascinated than ever by Mile. 
Vincart’s original beauty, the temerity of her re- 
lations with him embarrassed him. A prey to 
the doubts which had oppressed him at the close 
of the winter, he knew not whether to attribute 
that frankness to candor or boldness. After 
the repast in the open air, after the rondo dance 
around the furnace, he was at once happy and 
troubled upon being left alone with Reine. He 
would have liked to have told her of the admira- 
tion he felt for her, but he did not know how to 
express himself; so he glanced fixedly at her 
with his enamored eyes, while his companion 
absently twisted a branch of wild-hone/'^ r.xkle 
between her fingers. Rendered uncomfortable by 
his glance, she broke the silence. 

"You do not talk, M. de Buxieres; do you re- 
gret having come here this morning?” 

"Regret?” he cried, "I have never spent so de 


132 


QUEEl^ OF THE IVOODS 


lightful a day, and I have you to thank for it, 
mademoiselle, for it is all owing to you.” 

*‘To me? You must thank the woodmen’s 
humor, the spring sun and the bracing forest air. 
I have done nothing.” 

“On the contrary, it is all owing to you,” he 
cried tenderly. "Before knowing you, I saw 
peasants, the sun and trees, and none of them 
made any impression upon me. But as soon as 
you sang I felt enlightened. I comprehend the 
beauty of the woods, I like the people, the beech 
trees, all those things in the midst of which you 
take pleasure in living. It is you who have 
worked this miracle! Ah, you have been appro- 
priately named. You are truly the fairy of the 
fete, the ‘Queen of the Woods.’” 

Surprised at her companion’s agitation. Reine 
looked at him stealthily from beneath her lashes, 
and she thought him changed indeed. 

He seemed to have suddenly thawed. He had 
no longer that awkward stiffness, that restraint 
which formerly clogged his movements and 
chilled his speech. His frail form seemed more 


QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 133 

supple, his blue eyes larger and brighter; at that 
moment they lighted up his delicate features 
with a glow of warmth and lent them a melan- 
choly charm, something tender and passionate. 

The young girl was pleased at the confidence 
reposed in her for the first time by Julien. Far 
from being dazzled by his words, she replied in 
a gay tone: 

"In point of 'Queens of the Woods’ working 
miracles, I know only these flowers.’’ 

She took from her breast the bouquet of white 
star-like flowers bordered with a collarette of 
green leaves and held it toward him, saying: 

"Do you know those? Smell how sweet they 
are! And their odor increases as they wither!’’ 

Julien raised the bouquet to his lips and inhaled 
the perfume. 

"Our woodmen,” she continued, "make a tea 
from this plant with which they cure cold and 
heat as if by enchantment; then too, they steep 
it in white wine to draw from it a beverage they 
call 'Mav wine’ and which intoxicates them.” 

Julien listened vaguely to those details. With 


134 QUEE}^ OF THE IVOODS 

his eyes fastened eagerly upon Mile. Vincart, he 
continued to inhale the pe^-fume and in his turn 
became intoxicated. 

"Give me those flowers! ’’ he said in stifled 
tones. 

"Certainly," she replied gayly, "keep them if 
they will give you any pleasure.” 

"Thank you," murmured he, hiding them in 
his breast. 

Reine was surprised at the exaggerated impor- 
tance which he seemed to atta'^h to so slight a 
favor, and a sudden blush mounted to her cheeks. 
She almost regretted having given him her flow- 
ers when she saw the manner in which he re- 
ceived them; so she replied in a tone almost of 
correction: 

"Do not thank me; the gifi is not of any im- 
portance. There are thousands of such flowers 
growing in the forest ; one has only to stoop and 
pick as many as one wishes." 

He dared not reply that the bouquet having 
been worn by her had a very rare value. Was 
not that favor so easily accorded him by Reine 


QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 135 

a tacit encouragement to demand more? Had 
he to deal -with a simple maiden or a village co- 
quette accustomed to be courted? He recalled 
Claudet’s advice on the manner of conducting 
love-making with certain country maids. 

Coquette or not, Reine had bewitched him. 
The charm worked more forcibly since he had been 
alone with her in that obscure cottage. Julien 
fairly devoured Reine’s curly hair, falling upon 
the nape of her neck, her almond-shaped eyes, 
the rosy lips, the two tiny brown marks upon her 
neck. He thought her adorable and longed to 
tell her so, but when he attempted to put his 
declaration into words, they seemed to stick in 
his throat. His blood tingled in his veins, his 
throat was parched, his head whirled. In his 
confusion, he tried to brace himself up by re- 
peating Claudet’s rules; “A hand slipped about 
the waist, two kisses adroitly bestowed and the 
rest will follow. ” 

Brusquely he approached the girl: 

"Since you have given me those flowers,” he 
began in an unsteady voice, "will you in token 


136 QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

of friendship give me your hand — as you do to 
Claudet? ’’ 

She held out her hand after a moment of hes- 
itation; scarcely had he touched it than, com- 
pletely infatuated, with the other arm which was 
free, he encircled Reine’ s> waist, drew her 
towards him and kissed her bare neck. 

The young girl was stronger than he; in a trice 
she disengaged herself from his audacious em- 
brace, violently repulsed M. de Buxieres and 
with one bound reached the door of the cot- 
tage. Arrived there, pale, indignant, her eyes 
glowing with anger, she murmured: 

"If you come near me, I will call the colliers. ” 

But Julien had no desire to renew his attack. 
Already brought to his senses, with lowered head 
and a repentant air he shrank into the darkest 
corner of the lodge. 

"Are you mad," she continued vehemently, 
"or has the wine mounted to your brain? You 
are following in your deceased cousines footsteps 
very rapidly. But I warn you such actions will 
not succeed with me! ” 









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137 


QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

As she spoke tears filled her eyes. 

"I did not expect that of you, M. de Buxieres." 

"Pardon me,” stammered Julien, whose heart 
contracted at the sight of her tearful eyes. "I 
have conducted myself like a wretch, a boor! It 
was a moment of madness — forget it and pardon 
me. ” 

"No one has ever treated me with disrespect,” 
said the young girl. "I made a mistake in treat- 
ing you so familiarly — that is all. It shall not 
happen again." 

Julien remained silent, overwhelmed with 
shame and regret. Suddenly the voices of the 
dancers who were approaching could be heard 
repeating the refrain of a song. 

"There are our people,” murmured Reine, "I 
am going to rejoin them — adieu — do not follow 
me. ” 

She left the cottage, while Julien, stunned by 
the rapidity with which that scene had taken 
place, seated himself on one of the benches, a 
prey to mingled feelings of shame and of rage. 
He had no desire to reappear in public, by the 


138 QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

side of that maiden whom he had so stupidly 
offended and whom he dared not face. It was 
evident he knew nothing of women since he 
could not even distinguish a respectable woman 
from one who was not. 

Why had he not been able to see that Reine 
Vincart’s friendliness had nothing in common 
with the provoking allurements of the creatures, 
who, according to Claudet, “set their caps 
beneath the trees in the forest.’’ 

That confirmation of his inaptitude for proper 
judgment, exasperated and mortified him. Never 
had Reine Vincart seemed to him as pretty as 
when in her indignation she escaped from him. 

The glance at once angry and sad which she 
had cast upon him, the expression about her 
mouth, the dilation of her nostrils, the heaving 
of her bosom, all recurred to him, and the rec- 
ollection of her proud, original beauty redoubled 
his chagrin. He remained for some time in the 
cottage. When he heard the sound of voices 
disappear in an opposite direction, and when 
he was positive that the colliers were busy 


QL^EEN OF THE IVOODS 130 

around the furnace, he decided to leave his re- 
treat. But he did not care to speak to any one; 
instead of crossing the section, he passed among 
the trees desirous of avoiding the sight of hu- 
man faces. 

As he wandered along, Julien thought of the 
probable result of his unfortunate prank. Reine 
would certainly not speak of the insult he had 
offered her, but would she forget the affront? 
Would not that adventure result in the cessation 
of their friendship? Would she be inexorable? 

In the midst of his sorrow, Julien was sustained 
by a vague hope of reconciliation. In recalling 
the details of that scandalous scene, he remem- 
bered that the young girl had seemed more bro- 
ken-hearted than angry. The accent of reproach 
with which she had murmured: ‘T did not ex- 
pect that of you, M de Buxieres! ” led him to 
hope for a possibility of some day obtaining par- 
don. His regret at the same time, was a proof 
of the hold the girl had already upon his heart. 
How dull and insufferable life would be to him 
were he to remain at variance with his "Queen 


140 QUEEJ^ OF THE PVOODS 

of the Woods!” Such were his mournful reflec- 
tions as he attained the borders of the forest. 
He looked down upon the calm valley of Vivey; 
to his right lay the castle-towers, to his left the 
path leading to La Thuiliere through the mead- 
ows of Planche au Vacher. Suddenly the sound 
of voices near by attracted his attention and on 
that solitary path, he perceived Reine and Clau- 
det walking side by side. The voices were in- 
distinct; he could not understand the words ex- 
changed, but by the intonations, by the attitudes, 
he could tell that the conversation was very an- 
imated; it was sometimes interrupted by bursts 
of laughter from Claudet ora gesture from Reine. 

Once Julien saw the girl place her hand famil- 
iarly upon Claudet’ s shoulder and he felt a pang 
of jealousy. The young couple reached a stream 
which crossed the path and whose bed had been 
swollen by the recent rains. Claudet püt his arm 
around Reine, lifted her in his strong arn^l and 
strode through the water, then they disappeared 
among the brushwood, though for sometime Ju- 
lien could hear the murmur of their voices. 


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QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 141 

“Ah,” thought he, "she stands on less ceremony 
with him than with me! How closely they walked 
in that pathway! With what animation they 
conversed; with what confidence she allowed him 
to carry her! That was indicative of a long in- 
timacy and explained much to him! He recalled 
Reine’ s visit to the castle and how cleverly she 
had informed him of the relations existing be- 
tween Claudet and the late Claude de Buxieres; 
how she had moved him to pity the fate of the 
"Great Huntsman,” and had him to make repara- 
tion for the deceased’s neglect. 

"Blindman that I was!” continued Julien; "I 
saw nothing, understood nothing of their maneu- 
vers! They loved one another, that is sure, and 
in all this I have played the part of dupe. She 
is no better than the rest; she flirted with me 
in order to assure a position for her swain ! Ec- 
clesiastes was right!” 

Twilight was creeping on apace; the forest 
was growing shadowy. Slowly Julien descended 
the decline which led to the castle, and his heart 
was as dark as the forest itself. 


VI 


Jealousy is a mischievous deity, of the race o£ 
Harpies. She corrupts all that she touches. 
From the night upon which Julien had seen Reine 
and Claudet crossing the stream at Planche au 
Vacher together, a secret poison had mingled 
with his feelings and given them a savor of bit- 
terness. Neither the bright June sun nor the glo- 
ries of the forest had any more charm for him. 
The earth seemed to him an odious theater upon 
which a bloody, monotonous drama was being 
constantly enacted. He identified nature with 
woman, attributing to both the same deceitful 
appearances and beauties, the same spirit of per- 
fidy. The people about him inspired him with 
defiant, suspicious thoughts. In every peasant 
he saw an enemy meditating deception with his 
cajoling words and hypocritical air. He no 
longer went out, fearing that he might meet 

Reine Vincart. He fancied that the sight of her 
142 


QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 143 

would augment the pain from which he was 
suffering and for which he was eagerly jeeking a 
remedy. But his wound still remained. 

When at evening, seated at his window, he 
heard Claudet whistle to his dog and disappear 
in the direction of La Thuiliere, he felt assured 
that he was going to meet the “Queen of the 
Woods" by appointment. He was tempted to 
leave his room and follow his rival, then he 
blushed at such cowardice. Was it not enough 
to have once involuntarily played the role of spy? 
What comfort could he derive from such villainy? 
Would he be benefited when he returned, his 
senses and heart inflamed after witnessing a love 
scene between the two young people? That 
thought kept him at home but he could not con- 
trol his imagination. 

Julian pictured to himself the meeting of the 
lovers in the center of fields bathed in the soft 
light of the moon. His brain whirled. He saw 
Reine advance and Claudet slip his arm around 
her supple waist. He fancied, with a tremor, 
the intoxications of the first words exchanged, of 


144 QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

the first kisses. Then his heart ached bitterly, 
his throat contracted; he leaned, almost fainting 
against the window and closed his eyes and ears 
not wishing to see or hear — desiring to annihi- 
late himself in a torpor of the flesh and mind. 
He did not succeed. The image of that bewitch- 
ing “Queen of the Woods” presented itself to 
him as he had admired it in the shadow of the 
collier^s hut. He put his hand to his eyes. He 
could not shut out the sight of her deep, black 
eyes and her attractive red lips. The odor of the 
honeysuckles arising from the garden, strength- 
ened that vision by recalling to Julien the faded 
sprig which Reine had twisted between her fin- 
gers during their last interview. The scent of the 
flowers at night seemed like an emanation from 
the young girl and exhaled a bitter perfume like 
the regret of a lost love. 

“Why,” thought Julien, “was 1 lured to such a 
hope? Can that maiden, so robust, so strong 
of will, love a being as weak and wavering as I 
am? No, she should have a lover full of life 
and strength, a bold huntsman capable of pro- 


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QUEEJ^ OF THE IVOODS 


145 


tecting her! What sort of a figure would I make 
by the side of so vigorous a man?" 

In his access of jealousy against Claudet, he 
was vexed less at his being beloved by Reine than 
at his having so carefuly concealed his love. As 
he secretly blamed him for that lack of frank- 
ness, he did not remember that he was open to a 
similar reproach in hiding from Claudet what he 
had in his heart. Since the night of the fete at 
the cottage he had been taciturn and morose; 
he shut himself up in a sulky silence which 
wounded his cousin. They met daily at the 
same table, apparently their intimate rela- 
tions continued, but there was no confidence be- 
tween them. 

Julien’s sullenness made Claudet uneasy and 
he sought in vain for its cause. He had done 
nothing to provoke that coldness; on the contrary 
he had endeavored to prove his gratitude by all 
sorts of kind offices. Claudet finally wondered 
if Julien was not beginning to repent of his gen- 
erosity and if the coldness shown him was not 

one way of manifesting that repentance. That 

Queen of the Woods — lo 


14C 


QUEEN OF THE IT'VODS 


supposition seemed to him the only explanation 
possible of his companion’s conduct. 

“He is already tired,” said he, “of keeping my 
mother and me at the castle.” 

Claudet’s dignity arose up in arms. He did 
not wish to be a burden to any one and he took 
offense in his turn at the mute reproaches he 
thought he could read upon Julien’ s care-worn 
face. Soon that misunderstanding, fed by the 
silence in which both parties took refuge, grew 
to such an extent that a crisis was imminent. 

The storm burst one evening after supper, 
when Julien’s ill-humor became more evident than 
ever before. Irritated by that persistent taciturn- 
ity, and more and more persuaded that his pres- 
ence was insupportable to young Buxieres, Clau- 
det resolved to have an explanation. Instead of 
leaving the dining -room when dessert was served 
and of calling his dog to take his usual walk, the 
“Great Huntsman” remained seated, poured him- 
self out a glass of whisky and slowly filled his 
pipe. 

In surprise, Julien rose and walked up and 


QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 


147 


down the room. He fancied that Claudet, per- 
ceiving his jealousy, had given up his walk solely 
to turn away his suspicions. That supposition 
incensed him all the more and stopping near the 
table with an angry air, he broke the silence. 

“You are not going out?” he asked brusquely. 

“No,” replied Claudet, “if you will permit me, 
I will keep you company. Will it annoy you?” 

“Not at all, only as y">u are in the habit of 
taking a walk every evening, I should not like 
to -have you inconvenience yourself. Solitude 
does not frighten me, and I am not selfish enough 
to wish to deprive you of society more agreeable 
than mine.” 

“What do you mean by that?” exclaimed Clau- 
det. 

“Nothing, except that the thought of being 
obliged to keep me company must not deprive 
you of a pleasure or of a meeting.” 

“A meeting?” cried his companion with a forced 
smile; “so you think that when I go out after 
supper it is to chase the girls. A meeting — with 
whom, if you please?” 


148 QUEEH OF THE IVOODS 

“With your sweetheart, of course,’’ said Julien. 
“According to what you told me, there is no lack 
ot girls here disposed to set their caps for the 
men and you will have no trouble in making a 
choice. I thought you were courting some wood- 
man’s daughter or some farmer’s pretty lass, like 
— like Reine Vincart!’’ 

“Reine Vincart!’’ repeated Claudet quickly; 
“how can you mention her name in the same 
breath with those creatures of whom you have 
just spoken? Mile. Vincart,” he added, “has 
nothing in common with them, and you are 
wrong, M. de Buxieres, to treat her so lightly.” 

The allusion to Reine Vincart had so greatly 
excited Claudet that he did not observe that Ju- 
lien in naming her was as much affected 
as he. 

The vehemence with which Claudet spoke aug- 
mented young Buxieres’ irritation. 

“Eh, eh,” said he with a sneer; “Reine Vincart 
is a very pretty girl.” 

“She is not only pretty, but she is a lady and 
deserves to be respected.” 


QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 149 

"How valiantly you defend her! One can see 
that she holds sway over your heart." 

"I defend her because 3^ou suspect her unjustly. 
But bear this in mind, it is not necessary for 
anyone to guarantee her respectability; her good 
name is sufficient defense. Ask all the village; 
not one voice will be raised against her." 

"Come," murmured Julie^' sarcastically, "con- 
fess that 5^011 love her! " 

“Well, suppose I do?" said Claudet impatiently. 
"Yes, I love her! There, are you satisfied?" 

Although he had been convinced of it, Buxieres 
was startled by that avowal when he heard it 
from Claudet^ s own lips. At first he did not 
speak, then he said: 

"You love her! Why did you not tell me 
sooner? Why were you not frank with me?" 

As he gesticulated in front of the open window, 
the light of the setting sun fell warmly upon his 
sparkling eyes and contracted features. His 
comrade, leaning against the sash saw that dis- 
torted face and wondered at the cause of his 
strange agitation. 


150 QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

"I? Have not been frank! Naturally I did 
not proclaim from the house tops that I loved 
Mile. Vincart, but I would have told you sooner 
had you asked me. I am not sly; but you, with 
all respect to you, are walled up like a subterra- 
nean passage. One can not guess the nature of 
your thoughts. I almost thought that you were 
interested in Reine, but you never gave me an 
opportunity after the thought occurred to me, to 
explain to you.” 

Julien maintained silence. He had seated him- 
self near the table, his elbows resting on the 
cloth, thinking over Claudet^s words. His hand 
was over his eyes, he bit his lips, a painful strug- 
gle seemed to be taking place within him. After 
a pause Julien raised his head slightly and said 
to Claudet in a low voice like a confessor ques- 
tioning a penitent: 

"Does Reine know that you love her?” 

"I think she suspects it,” said Claudet, “but I 
have never dared to declare it openly. But girls 
are very sharp — especially Reine. They divine 
very quickly that love is in the question 


QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 151 

when a young man is constantly around them.” 

“So you see her often?” 

“Not as often as I should like to. But, you 
know, when two people take the same road, they 
often meet — at the beech-nutting, in the field, at 
the door of the church. It is not necessary, as 
you think, to appoint meetings in the fields at 
night. Reine has too much respect for herself to 
meet a lover at night, besides she has other 
things to do, being very busy at the farm since 
her father’s illness.” 

“Well — do you think she loves you?” Julien 
asked with nervous irritation. 

“I don’t know,” replied Claudet, shrugging his 
shoulders. “She trusts me and is kind to me, 
but I have not dared to ask her if she loves me 
other than a friend. You see, I have good rea- 
sons for not broaching the subject ; she is rich, 
and I am poor, and for nothing in the world 
would I have her think that I am courting her 
for her money.” 

Just the same, you wish to marry her, and you 
hope that she will not say no, ” cried Julien angrily. 


153 QUEEhl OF THE JVOODS 

Claiidet, struck by his compnaion’s violent 
manner, drew near him, 

"How you talk, M. de Buxieres, " he exclaimed. 
"One would think this matter vexed you. Shall 
I tell you a thought that has occurred to me be- 
fore and which recurs to me as I listen to you? It 
is that perhaps you are in love with the ‘Queen 
of the Woods’ yourself.” 

"I?” protested Julien. He was humiliated by 
Claudet’s perspicacity. He had too much pride 
and respect to allow his unhappy passion to be 
seen by a preferred rival. He paused a moment 
to swallow something which rose in his throat 
and to steady his voice before adding: 

"You know I have an aversion to women. Be- 
sides, I am not silly enough to expose myself to 
their wiles. You may rest assured, I will not 
enter the lists against you." 

Claudet shook his head with a dissatisfied air. 

"You doubt it,” continued Buxieres; "Well, I 
will prove it to you. You dare not propose be- 
cause Reine is rich and you are poor? I will un- 
dertake to arrange things.” 


QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 153 

"I do not understand you,” stammered Claudet, 
amazed at the strange turn the conversation had 
taken. 

“You will understand,” said Julien with a de- 
cided gesture. 

He had taken one of those resolutions which at 
first seem illogical and absurd, but which are 
common to timid minds. The suffering caused by 
Claudet’ s disclosures was of so acute a character 
that he was alarmed by it. He perceived with 
affright the ravages exercised by a hopeless love, 
and in his grief he employed a heroic remedy to 
stop the malady. He proposed to put an end to 
his love by hastening the marriage of Claudet 
and Reine. 

When that thought first occurred to Julien, he 
seized upon it with the precipitation of a man 
who grasps the first object which seems to offer 
him a means of support, be that object a dead 
branch or a reed. 

“Listen,” said he. “At the first explanation 
we had, I told you that I did not intend to de- 
prive you of your right to a portion of your 


154 QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

father’s fortune. Up to the present you have 
depended upon my word and we have lived at 
the castle like two brothers. But the moment 
the question of money alone keeps you from 
marrying the woman you love, it is neccessary 
that you should be legally provided for. To- 
morrow we will go to M. Arbillot’s and have him 
draw up the papers which will bestow your in- 
heritance upon you. You will then, in the eyes 
of the law and of all, be one of the best matches 
in the district, and you can, without fear of being 
presumptuous or indelicate, propose for Mile. 
Vincart’s hand!” 

Claudet was nonplussed. Emotion prevented 
him from speaking; tears glistened in his eyes. 

"M. Julien," said he at length, in a low voice, 
'T do not know how to find words with which to 
thank you. I am stunned, and to think that I 
suspected you of being tired of me and of regret- 
ting your benefit! 1 judge others by myself. 
Beast that I am! But pardon me! If I do not 
express myself readily I feel deeply and all that 
I can tell you is that you make me very happy!" 


QUE Eh! OF THE IVOODS 155 

He sighed deeply. “Provided now," he con- 
tinued, “that Reine accepts me. Believe me if 
you will, M. de Buxieres, but as resolute and 
bold as I appear, I am like a chicken when near 
her. I am afraid she will not accept me and I 
do not know if I shall ever dare to propose to 
her." 

“Why should she refuse you?" replied Julien 
sadly. “She knows that you love her. Do you 
think she loves another?" 

“That I do not know. Although very frank, 
Reine does not wear her heart upon her sleeve, 
and with young girls^ you know, one can never 
be sure. It is that which makes me fearful," 

“If you are afraid," said Buxieres, “would you 
like me to undertake to deliver your proposal?” 

“I wish you would render me that service. 
That will be another good deed, added to the 
others. I will repay them all together some 
day." 

On the following day as agreed, Julien took 
Claudet to Auberive to M. Arbillot’s, where the 
deed was drawn up, signed and sealed. After 


15C QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

which the two young men repaired to the inn to 
dine. The meal was short and eaten in silence. 
Neither seemed very hungry. When they had 
drunk their coffee, they set out for Vivey, but 
when they reached a large lime tree which stood 
at the entrance to the forest, Julien lightly 
touched Claudet’s shoulder. 

' Here, ” he said, “we are going to part company. 
You will go to Vivey alone and I will go to 
La Thuiliere through the meadows. Wait for 
me at the castle whither I will return when I 
have talked with Mile. Vincart." 

“The time will seem so long to me,” sighed 
Claudet. “I shall not know what to do with 
myself until your return." 

“It will only be two or three hours. Sit at 
my chamber window, you will see me return. 
If I wave my hat it will inform you of my 
success. " 

Claudet pressed his hand, they separated and 
Julien descended toward the recently mov/ed 
fields where he walked beneath the trees. The 
afternoon heat was tempered by an east wind. 


QUEEN OF THE ^VOODS 157 

The young man walked along with feverish 
haste. The last trial to which he was about 
to submit his passion was at once sad and 
sweet. The thought of again seeing Reine and 
of sounding her heart was bitterly sweet to him. 

He was about to speak to her of love for 
another, it was true, but he would put into that 
declaration made for another a little of his own 
tenderness and would have the supreme and cruel 
satisfaction of seeing her glances, her blushes, of 
receiving her avowal from her lips. 

He would once more drink in her beauty and 
then he would leave her to bury himself at 
Vivey, after having interred his dreams and his 
worldly desires at La Thuiliere. As he cour- 
ageously undertook that immolation of his 
youth, he felt a confused hope cross his mind. 

Claudet was not sure of being loved and 
perhaps Reine would reply to his request with a 
refusal. Then the field would be clear. 

The odor of the mint on the edge of the 
stream suggested to him vague dreams of 
happiness. Impatient to be near Reine Vincart 


158 QUEEÎ^ OF THE IVOODS 

he hastened his steps, then halted, seized with 
a sudden fear. He had not met her since 
the painful scene at the cottage. What should 
he do If she refused to receive or listen to 
him? 

Soon he saw the the roof of the farm a 
hundred paces ahead; he pushed open a gate 
and entered the court. The blinds were closed, 
the door shut and the house seemed deserted. 
Then Julien fancied that perhaps Reine had 
accompanied the farm-hands to the field and 
in his disappointment he stopped in the center 
of the court-yard in which the chickens were 
hunting food; at the sight of the intruder they 
fled precipitately through a gate which was 
half ajar, and through which they were followed 
by the young man into the garden proper. 

At the end of a long arbor covered with vines 
he perceived Reine Vincart, seated on the steps 
of an arched door which led into the kitchen. 
A plum tree laden with purple fruit spread its 
branches over the head of the girl, who was 
shelling peas. 











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QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 


159 


The sound of footsteps caused her to raise her 
head, but she did not stir. In his anxiety Julien 
thought the alley interminable. He had time to 
examine Reine, who imperturbably continued 
her work and threw the shelled peas into a 
measure. She was bareheaded and dressed in a 
striped petticoat and white waist, the upper but- 
ton of which she had opened, owing to the heat. 
She had recognized Buxieres, but an emotion 
equal to his had rooted her to the spot and a se- 
cret feminine instinct had impelled her to con- 
tinue her work in order to conceal the trembling 
of her fingers. 

Since the adventure at the cottage she had 
often thought of Julien, of the bold kiss stolen 
by him which had brought a blush to her brow. 
Indignant as she had been at that caress, which 
implied a lack of respect not at all in keeping 
with Julien’s habitual reserve, she was surprised 
to find that she was not more indignant. If at 
first the affront had aroused a feeling of anger, 
she remembered it later on with blissful pulsa- 
tions of her heart. She thought that to have 


160 QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

thus lost all control over himself in her presence 
that timid man must have been carried away by 
the force of an irresistible passion, and there is 
no woman, be she ever so refined, who will not 
receive the homage rendered to the sovereign 
power of her beauty. 

Julien’ s melancholy blue eyes had exercised a 
magnetic attraction over Reine’ s limpid, black 
ones and without asking to what it would lead, 
she felt for him a sentiment of tenderness, 
which bordered upon love. 

Julien de Buxieres was not sufficiently versed 
in such matters to notice the impression which 
his unexpected appearance produced upon Reine 
Vincart. When he was several paces from her, 
he bowed awkwardly and she returned his saluta- 
tation coldly. Then, very much disconcerted, he 
apologized for entering her house so unceremo- 
niously. 

"1 fear,” he said humbly, that after what has 
taken place, my visit will not be agreeable to 
you.” 

Reine, who had promptly recovered her self- 


i 


✓ 


ft 






QUEEN OF THE PVOODS lOl 

possession, pretended not to hear the remark 
which escaped M. de Buxieres. She rose, pushed 
out of the way the green leaves which strewed 
the path and answered briefly: 

“You are forgiven, sir. One does not need 
anyone to usher them into La Thuiliere. I sup- 
pose that the motive which brings you here 
could only be pleasant.” With those words 
she buttoned her jacket and straightened her 
skirt. 

Certainly, mademoiselle,’ stammered Julien; 
“a very serious motive brings me, and if I am 
not inconveniencing you — ” 

“Not at all, sir; but since you have something 
to say to me, it is needless for you to stand. 
Allow me to get you a chair.” 

She entered the house, leaving the young man 
surprised at the calmness with which she had 
received him. Shortly afterward she reappeared 
bringing a chair which she placed under the 
plum tree. 

“Pray be seated, it is shady here.” 

She reseated herself on the step, her back 

Queen of the Woode — 1 1 


162 QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

against the wall, her chin in one of her hands. 

“I am listening," she murmured. 

Julien, gradually obtaining the mastery over 
himself, saw that his mission was more difficult 
than he had thought it. He felt strangely em- 
barrassed. He began by inquiring as to the 
health of M. Vincart. 

"He is always the same," said Reine, "neither 
better nor worse, and with his disease all that I 
can expect is that he will remain thus a long 
time. But," she continued, with a tinge of sar- 
casm, "it was sure not to inquire about my father 
that you came to La Thuiliere?" 

"That is true, mademoiselle,” he said; "that of 
which I have to speak is very delicate. Pardon 
me, therefore, if I hesitate and am somewhat 
embarrassed. I pray you to be indulgent." 

"What is he about to say?" wondered Reine, 
while her heart throbbed faster. 

Julien proceeded as all timid people do. After 
having prepared the speech he was to make, he 
lost his self-possession and said bluntly: 

"Mile. Reine, do you ever think of marrying?” 


QUEEN OF THÉ IVOODS 163 

Reine started and looked at him in surprise. 

"I?” she exclaimed. “Oh, I have time; I am 
in no hurry.” Then, casting down her eyes, she 
asked: “Why did you say that to me?” 

“Because I know of some one who loves you — 
who would be delighted to marry you.” 

She turned very pale, seized a stalk of peas, 
mechanically twisted it between her fingers, and 
remained silent for a moment. 

“Some one in the country?” she stammered. 

“Yes, some one who knows you — some one who 
possesses the qualities I think to make a good 
husband, and enough money to support a wife. 
You have undoubtedly guessed whom I mean?” 

She kept her eyes cast down; her lips were 
compressed, her features impassive, but the man- 
ner in which she crushed the peas between her 
fingers betrayed her emotion. 

“I do not know,” she replied. 

“Is that so?” he cried in astonishment, but 
with secret satisfaction; “can you not guess? 
Have you never thought of the person I mean?” 

“No — who is it?” 


104 QUEEh! OF THE JVOODS 

She raised her eyes to his, and through her 
half-open lids one could see a mysterious glow 
in her deep eyes. 

“It is Claudet Séjournant,” said Julien, in his 
turn lowering his eyes. The mysterious glow in 
the depths of Reiners liquid orbs vanished, and 
her face again became impassive — but Julien saw 
nothing. 

The words he had just uttered had caused him 
too great a- pang, and he dared not glance at his 
companion for fear of surprising upon her face a 
beam of joy occasioned by his suffering. 

“Ah,” said Reine coldly, “in that case, why 
did not Claudet come to make his own explana- 
tion? At the last moment he dared not ven- 
ture, and — and,” she added sarcastically, “you 
offered' to speak for him." 

“Yes, I promised him to plead his cause. I 
thought too that I should have no difficulty. 
Claudet has loved you a long time. He has a 
brave heart and is a fine fellow -and as to ma- 
terial advantages his position is now equal to 
yours. I have deeded to him a portion of his 


QUEEhl OF THE IVOODS 165 

father’s fortune. What reply shall I take him?” 

With an effort he uttered that speech not dar- 
ing to raise his eyes to Mile. Vincart. Reine 
did not speak. She was disconcerted by the un- 
expected proposal. She had certainly mistrusted 
that Claudet liked her, but she had never 
dreamed of encouraging that inclination. Claud- 
et’ s proposal did not wound her; what hurt her 
was julien’s intervention — his taking up of his 
relative’s cause. That same M. de Buxieres, 
who had so boldly shown his preference for her 
in the colliers’ cottage, considered it quite natu- 
ral to become Claudet’ s advocate. She felt 
scorned, humiliated, offended by the only man 
in whom her heart was interested. In the ex- 
cess of her indignation she grew reckless; bitter 
disappointment, cruel indifference to all things, 
urged to extreme resolutions, and not being able 
to revenge herself upon anyone, she felt as if she 
could injure herself. 

"What reply shall I take to Claudet,” repeat- 
ed Julien, concealing beneath affected coldness 
the emotion which was breaking his heart. She 


16G QUEE}^ OF THE H^OODS 

rose, turned her large eyes upon him and asked 
bluntly; 

“What would you advise me to reply?" 

If Julien had been less of a novice, he would 
have known that a maiden who loves never asks 
such a question; but the feminine heart was to 
him a sealed book. He imagined that the young 
girl asked that question as a subterfuge in ordçr 
to save herself an avowal of her preference. She 
undoubtedly desired his aid, and he felt obliged 
to accord her that satisfaction. 

“I think," he murmured, “that Claudet will 
make a good husband and that you will do well 
to choose him.” 

Reine bit her lips and her pallor redoubled. 
Her black eyes, in contrast, sparkled more brightly. 

“Very well," she responded, “tell Claudet that 
I consent, and that he will be welcome at La 
Thuiliere. " 

“I wiJl tell him at once." 

Julien bowed to Reine who stood by mute and 
motionless. 


“Adieu, mademoiselle. 













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QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 1C7 

Brusquely he turned his back upon her and fled 
across the fields. She maintained her statu- 
esque position until the young man’s footsteps 
died away; then she bowed her head upon her 
hands and burst into sobs and tears. 

Julien de Buxieres, dissatisfied with himself, 
irritated by the prompt success of his embassy, 
dreaded returning to Vivey. He then recalled 
the promise he had given Claudet; faithful to 
his word, although his heart was filled with 
anguish, as he came in sight of the castle, he 
raised his hat and with a mournful gesture 
waved it over his head three times. At the sig- 
nal which announced good news, Claudet replied 
by a triumphant cry, then he disappeared from 
his post at the window. 

A moment later, Julien heard the sound of 
footsteps approaching; it was the lover coming 
to meet him, impatient to learn the details of 
the interview. 


VII. 


If Julien had thought that the marriage of 
Claudet and Reine would heal his wounds, he 
soon discovered that he was mistaken. 

When he had informed the "Great Huntsman" 
of the success of his undertaking, he found that 
he had imposed upon himself a surplus amount of 
suffering. Uncertainty was decidedly preferable 
to the sight of the joy manifested by his rival. 
It aroused his jealousy. Since receiving from 
Reiie the avowal of her love for Claudet, he was 
more than ever possessed by that hopeless pas- 
sion which threw him into a state of physical 
and mental exhaustion. 

Reine was constantly before his eyes, as he 

had seen her on the steps of the farm in her 

short skirt and waist open at the neck. He saw 

the refractory, curly locks upon her brow, the 

pure glance of her limpid eyes, the expressive 

smile upon her lips, and he remembered with a 
168 


QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 


169 


start that before a month was over, she would 
belong to Claudet. Then almost simultaneously, 
like a swallow which changes its course, his 
thoughts took another direction and he pictured 
what “might have been” if, instead of replying in 
the affirmative. Reine had objected to marrying 
the “Great Huntsman.” 

He fancied himself kneeling before her as be- 
fore a madonna, acknowledging his love. He 
took her hands gently and talked to her so elO' 
quently, that he won her. Her hands remained 
in his, he pressed her tenderly in his arms. He 
thought he could feel her supple form against 
his breast. Suddenly he awoke from his enchant- 
ment, found himself alone in his chamber and 
recalling the reality, he bit his lips. 

The sound of footsteps resounded on the gravel, 
and a jovial voice smote upon his ear. It was 
Claudet on his way to La Thuiliere. Julien 
ground his teeth as he saw him disappear. What 
had he done that his life should be so disap- 
pointing? He had had no pleasure during his 
childhood, his youth was spent in a monastery. 


170 QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

until he was twenty-seven he had known neither 
love nor friendship. At one time, it was true, 
fortune had seemed to smile upon him by giving 
him a little money and liberty, but her smile 
was ironical. His religious belief seemed to 
have given way under the same blow which 
had shaken to their foundations his hopes of 
love ; he seemed to have been led astray and 
to have no longer a pilot nor a port. 

Gradually he took a dislike to his home and 
passed entire days in the woods which became 
his refuge. Under the shade of the venerable 
trees, amid the silent obscurity of the beeches, 
he felt less lonesome, less humiliated, and disen- 
chanted. On his return from that haunt he of t.;n 
met Claudet on the door-step; at such times he 
would glance eagerly into his face to see what 
success he had met with. His curiosity was 
seldom satisfied, for Claudet seemed to have left 
all his spirits and his animation at LaThuiliere. 

At meals he scarcely spoke. Julien, provoked 
by that unexpected discretion mentally accused 
his cousin of practicing dissimulation and of try- 






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QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 171 

ing to hide his happiness from him. He was so 
blinded by jealousy that he ascribed the “Great 
Huntsman’s" silence to hypocrisy. 

Claudet although delighted at the turn affairs 
had taken felt too, in his case, that “the course 
of true love did not run smooth," and that no 
one ever enjoys perfect happiness. After Julien’ s 
return, he hastened to La Thuiliere with throb- 
bing pulses; Reine received him cordially, but 
he was surprised to find in that welcome an in- 
describable sense of dreaminess, little in accord 
with the idea usually formed of the first inter- 
view between lovers. 

When he attempted to demonstrate his love in 
the usual rustic manner, that is, by boisterous 
embraces and resounding kisses. Reine said: 

“Be calm and let us talk sensible." 

He obeyed, resolving, however, to return to 
the charge and to triumph over that modest re- 
serve. In fact, the next day he made another 
attempt but was repulsed with equal firmness. 
He complained gently and reproached Reine for 
not loving him as she should. 


172 QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

“If I did not feel kindly toward you," replied 
the girl laconically, “would I have permitted you 
to speak to me of marriage?” Then noticing his 
disappointment and thinking that she had per- 
haps treated him with too much harshness, she 
said in a tender tone: 

"Remember, Claudet, that I am, so to speak, 
alone at the farm. That compels me to be more 
reserved than a girl who could have her mother 
with her. Do not be vexed then if I am not just 
like other girls; you may feel assured that will 
not prevent me trom being a good wife when we 
are married." 

"Yes that is one reason," thought the 'Great 
Huntsman,* as he returned to Vivey. "How- 
ever, it is my opinion that a caress now and then 
would do no harm." 

It can easily be understood that he did not 
care to state those details to Julien. His pride 
was wounded. Having always been the village 
beau, he was very little flattered by his poor 
success with the only maid he had ever seriously 
desired, to conquer. He therefore maintained 


QUEEî^ OF THE fVOODS 173 

silence and hid his discomposure beneath a mask 
of indifference. Moreover, a rustic instinct of 
prudence rendered him circumspect. He thought 
only of hastening the day when all obstacles 
would be overcome and Reine would belong 
solely to him. But when he broached the sub- 
ject to Mile. Vincart, he was discouraged to find 
her less anxious than he was. 

"There^is no hurry,” replied she; “our affairs 
are not in order, the harvesting is not all done 
and we had better wait.” 

During the first moments of bliss, Claudet 
wished to announce his betrothal at once to all 
the village. Reine opposed it; she wished to 
avoid arousing public curiosity so long a time in 
advance and she drew from Claudet the promise 
not to say anything until the day for the mar- 
riage was set. For a month matters continued 
thus. To Julien de Buxieres that prolonged en- 
gagement, that continual coming and going from 
the castle to the farm, even ClaudeFs mysteri- 
ous manner became a subject of bitterness and 
pain. He would have liked to put an end to it 


174 QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

quickly and to have the sacrifice consummated 
without delay. He hoped that when once the 
young couple were installed at La Thuiliere the 
thought that Reine belonged to another would 
suffice to cure him radically and to chase away 
the phantoms of love which haunted him. 

One evening when Claudet entered more silent 
and dull than was his custom, Julien asked him 
bluntly: 

"Well, how are you getting on? When is the 
wedding to be? ’ 

"Nothing is settled yet,” evasively replied 
Claudet; "we have plenty of time.” 

"Indeed,” exclaimed Buxieres, sarcastically, 
"you seem very patient for a lover.” 

The remark and the tone in which it was made 
piqued the "Great Huntsman.” 

"The delay is not my fault,” he replied. 

"Ah,” murmured his companion, "it is Mile. 
Vincart’s?” At the same time his eyes bright- 
ened as if Claudet’ s reply had awakened a ray of 
hope in his heart. The latter noticed the light- 
ing up of his cousin’s eyes and hastened to reply: 


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QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 175 

“No; we both thought it would be wiser to 
postpone the marriage until after the har- 
vest.” 

“You made a mistake ; a marriage should not 
be delayed. Moreover, though that protracted 
courtship, those daily visits to the farm are all 
proper enough, they compromise Mile. Vincart. 
You should know they do." 

Julien spoke with an unusul violence which 
seemed strange to Claudet. 

“Then,” he asked, “you think matters should 
be hastened and that the marriage should take 
place before winter?” 

“Certainly. ” 

The following day at La Thuiliere. Claudet 
said to Reine who was spreading pieces of cloth 
upon the grass: 

“Reine, I think we ought to decide upon the 
day for our marriage.” 

She placed upon the ground the watering-pot 
with which she was sprinkling the linen and 
looked at her betrothed uneasily: 

“I thought we had agreed to wait until after 


17C QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

the harvesting. Why have you brought up the 
subject again?" 

"It is true that I promised not to urge you, but 
I can not help it if I find the time long. More- 
over no one in the country knows of our inten- 
tions, and to see me coming to the farm every 
day will give them cause for gossip and make it 
unpleasant for you. That is M. de Buxieres* 
opinion, I talked with him about it last night." 

At Julien' s name Heine’s black brows con- 
tracted and she bit her lips. 

“Ah," she muttered between her teeth, "he has 
been giving you advice?" 

"Yes, he thinks the sooner we are married, the 
better it will be." 

"What does it concern him,” sli? exclaimed 
angrily. She turned away her eyes and for a 
moment gazed pensively at a roll of linen at her 
feet. Then she shrugged her shoulders, shook 
her head and avoiding Claudet’s languishing 
eyes, she said slowly: 

"Perhaps you are both right! Let it be so! I 
give you permission to seek the priest, to tell 


QUEEN ÔF THÉ PVOODS 177 

him of our engagement and to fix upon the day 
with him.” 

"Thank you, Reine,” cried Ciaudet triumph- 
antly; “you have made me very happy.” 

He seized her hands, but, although he was re- 
joiced, he could not help remarking that the 
young girl trembled. It even seemed to him 
that Reiners eyes looked somewhat tearful. 

On leaving his betrothed, he hastened to the 
priest, whose dwelling was near the castle. The 
servant conducted him into a small garden which 
was separated from the cemetery by a high wall. 
Ciaudet found Abbe Pernot seated on a stone 
bench shaded by an arbor of vines. He was busy 
cutting sprigs of hazel. 

“Good-evening, Ciaudet,” said the priest, with- 
out discontinuing his labor; “you have surprised 
me at my work. If you have no objections I will 
continue, for I wish to finish to-night. You know 
the season is advancing! How is M. de Buxieres? 
I hope he will be as kind as his deceased cousin, 
and allow me to stretch my nets on the outskirts 

of his woods. But,” he added, seeing the im- 
Queenof the Woods — 12 


178 QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

patient expression upon Claudet^s face, "I for- 
got to ask you to what good luck I owe this visit. 
Excuse me.” 

“Certainly. Do not mention it, sir. You have 
guessed aright. It is a happy cirumstance 
which brings me here. I am going to get 
married.” 

“Ha! ha! ” replied the abbe laughing. "My 
congratulations, my dear friend. That is indeed 
good news. It is not good for man to live alone, 
and I am glad to see you renounce a life of 
celibacy. Come, tell me quickly the name of 
your intended. Do I know her?” 

“Very well, sir. It is Mile. Vincart.” 

“Reine!” 

The abbe let fall his twig, and raised a sur- 
prised face, while his lips formed themselves in- 
to a pucker of consternation. 

“Yes, Reine Vincart,” repeated Claudet, some- 
what vexed by the priest’s manner. “Does my 
choice astonish you?” 

“Pardon me — and is it settled?” stuttered the 
abbe in confusion. “You — you love one another?" 


QUEEh! OF THE IVOODS 


179 


“Of course. I have come to see you about the 
publication of the bans.” 

“Hem! So soon!” murmured the priest in 
his agitation buttoning and unbuttoning his cas- 
sock. "It seems to me you are very quick about 
it. The union of a man and woman — hem — is a 
serious act which should not be lightly entered 
upon. That is why the church instituted the 
sacrament of marriage. Have you reflected well? ” 
“Certainly I have reflected," replied Claudet, 
beginning to be irritated, “and you can see that 
I have decided. Once more, sir, let me ask you, 
does my choice displease you; have you anything 
to say against Mile. Vincart?" 

“I? No, nothing. Reine is an excellent girl. ” 
“Well, what then?” 

“Well, my friend, to-morrow I will go to see 
your betrothed and we will talk it all over to- 
gether. I will act in the interests of all, of that 
you may be certain. In the meanwhile, I will 
include you in my prayers to-day. Good even- 
ing, Claudet, I will see you shortly! ” 

With those last enigmatical words he took 


180 QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

leave of Claudet who returned to the castle furi- 
ous and uncomfortable, at the same time, at that 
singular reception. 

When Claudet was gone Abbe Pernot, leaving 
his nets, walked nervously up and down one of 
the garden paths. He seemed to be entirely un- 
hinged. He walked quickly, then he stopped, 
crossed his arms and uncrossed them, to put his 
hands in the pockets of his cassock which he 
tugged at feverishly, as if he wished to find a 
solution of his difficulties there. From time to 
time he sighed and these uncompleted sentences, 
escaped from his full lips: 

“Lord, Lord! what a business! I cannot, how- 
ever, say anything to Claudet! It is a secret 
which does not belong tome! Tut! Tut! Tut!” 

Those last words were like the chirping of a 
startled blackbird; after having uttered them, 
the abbe recommenced his walk up and down the 
alley bordered with box. He continued pacing 
to and fro until twilight crept on and the Angé- 
lus had rung, when Augustine, the servant, came 
to tell him that he was awaited at the church. 


QUEEN OF THE iVOODS 181 

He repaired thither in an absent frame of mind 
and uttered the prayers with a haste which did 
not contribute to the edification of the parish. 

On his return to the parsonage, he supped 
without any appetite, muttered a grace and sought 
the room which served him as a study. He re- 
mained there long into the night, examined his 
small collection of books in order to find two 
which treated of “cases of conscience,” and then 
began to read them by his dim lamp-light. Dur- 
ing their perusal he uttered frequent sighs and 
only suspended his work to take copious pinches 
of snuff. Finally he felt that his eyes smarted, 
that his thoughts were confused, that his lamp 
had burned low and he decided to retire. But he 
slept badly and arose at day-break to say mass. 
He officiated more slowly and more piously than 
usual. Then he re-entered the sacristy, took ofi 
his priestly robes, entered the parsonage by 
means of a corridor communicating with the 
church, lunched, put on his three-cornered hat, 
took a stout cane and started out. 

Augustine, surprised at his sudden exit, looked 


182 QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

to see which road he took and murmured: 

“Monsieur is going to La Thuiliere! ” 

Her curiosity being in part satisfied she went 
about her daily duties. 

Yes, Abbe Pernot was on his way to La Thuil- 
iere. Never, during the twenty-five years of his 
ministry had a question so knotty burdened his 
conscience. The case was grave and in addition 
to that, so urgent that the abbe was taken una- 
wares. How was it that such thoughts had not 
occurred to him? A more ardent priest, a priest 
more attentive to his flock, would certainly have 
been better posted! But he had indulged so 
much in worldly amusements, that his mind was 
preoccupied, his powers of perception dimmed. 
He took himself thus to task upon the way and 
wondered what he should sa}^ on reaching the 
farm and how he should break the ice. Occa- 
sionally even he asked himself: “Have I the right 
to speak? What a revelation, and to a young 
girl, too! Lord, Lord, guide me in the right 
path and instruct me with Thy truth.” 

As he piously repeated that verse from the 


QUEEN OF THE PVOODS 183 

Psalms to give him strength, he saw the gray 
roofs of La Thuiliere before him. He heard the 
cocks crow and the cows low in the stable. Five 
minutes later he pushed open the door of the 
kitchen where Margaret was arranging the dishes 
for breakfast. 

“Good day, Margaret," said the abbe in a low 
voice; “has Mile. Vincart arisen?" 

“Holy Virgin, sir! Certainly my mistress is 
up! She rose before any of us and is already in 
the orchard. I will fetch her — " 

“No, do not stir. I know the way, I will go 
in search of her myself." 

In the orchard! That suited Abbe Pernot first- 
rate; it seemed to him that a conversation there 
would be less painful and that the sight of the 
trees would inspire him. He crossed the kitchen, 
descended the steps which led to the garden, 
walked along the paths and found Reine at the 
end of a grove of filbert trees. 

At the sight of the priest, Reine turned pale 
for she felt assured that he came to inform her 
of the result of his conversation with Claudet 


184 QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

and to notify her as to the day chosen for the 
celebration of their nuptials. The thought that 
her fate was to be irrevocably sealed had troub- 
led her all night and she had wept — that was 
evident by her inflamed eyelids. 

The day before, that proposal accepted in a 
moment of anger, seemed to her a vague project, 
the realization of which was doubtful; but now 
all seemed cruelly certain — she could not escape 
from a promise which Claudet, alas, looked upon 
as binding. 

All that recurred to Reine as she saw the priest 
advancing toward the filbert trees; she felt her 
heart contract and her eyes fill with tears. 

She was too proud, however, to allow the priest 
to see her irresolution; she made an effort at 
self-control, conquered her weakness and address- 
ing the abbe gayly, she said: 

“Sir, I am sorry they allowed you to come 
hither. Let us return to the farm and I will 
give you a cup of coffee.” 

“No, my child,” said the old man, making a 
gesture which bade her remain; “thank you. I 


QUEE}^ OF THE iVOODS 185 

do not care for any ; remain where you are. I 
have something to say to you and we will not be 
disturbed here.” 

Under the nut trees were two rustic seats; the 
priest took one and bade Reine take the other. 
Beneath the shade of those branches they were 
installed as in a confessional. The calm morn- 
ing, the solitude invited confidence, but the 
priest and the young girl were both agitated and 
maintained an embarrassed silence. Reine was 
the first to speak: 

“You have seen Claudet, sir?” 

“Yes, yes,” replied Abbe Pernot with a sigh. 

“He — spoke to you of — our projects?” contin- 
ued Reine, in a less steady voice; “have you 
fixed the day?” 

“No, my child, nothing is fixed. I should have 

« 

liked to have seen you beforehand and to have 
told you something very important.” 

The abbe paused, rubbed a splash of mud 
from his cassock, then coughed and continued in 
a voice prudently lowered: 

“My dear child, I will begin by telling you 


18Ü QUBEN OF THE IVOODS 

what I said to Claudet Séjournant yesterday: 

Marriage, the indissoluble bond between a man 
and woman before God, is one of the most sol- 
emn, serious acts of life. Before engaging in 
such ties it is necessary as the Scriptures enjoin: 
“to sound one’s heart," to submit one’s mind to 
a serious examination. Therefore I beg of you 
to answer my questions without any false pride, 
as if you were at the confessional. Do you love 
Claudet? " 

Reine started. That appeal to her sincerity 
reawoke all her perplexities and scruples. She 
raised her large tearful eyes to the priest and 
after a moment’s hesitation replied: 

“I am very fond of Claudet. I respect him 
very highly." 

“I know," replied the priest, “but — excuse 
me if I insist. Was the engagement you entered 
into with him made for reasons of fitness or on 
account of a warmer feeling?" 

“Pardon, sir,” said Reine blushing, “it seems 
to me that friendship combined with the firm 
intention of being a faithful and devoted wife 


QUEEN OF THE WOODS 187 

would seem to you, as to me, sufficient reason.” 

“Certainly, certainly, my child. There are 
many husbands who are contented with less. 
But it is not a question alone of Claudet’s hap- 
piness ; it concerns yours too. Is your love for 
Séjournant so deep, that if, by some unforeseen 
circumstance, this engagement should be broken, 
you would be irremediably unhappy?” 

“Ah,” said Reine in confusion, “you ask too 
much, sir! If a rupture should occur and I have 
nothing with which to reproach myself, it is 
possible that 1 might be consoled!” 

“That is well. Consequently you do not love 
Claudet, if you take the word qo love’ in a 
worldly sense. You do not love him with love. 
Eh? Tell me frankly!” 

“No, sir.” 

“God be praised! We are saved!” cried the 
abbe, drawing a deep breath, while Reine in 
confusion stared at him. 

“I do not understand you,” she stammered, 
“what do you mean?” 

“That that marriage is impossible! " 


188 


QUEEN OF THE PVOODS 


"Impossible, why?" 

"Yes, as impossible in the eyes of the Church 
as in the eyes of the world. " 

The young girl looked at him with growing 
astonishment. 

"You frighten me! " she murmured. "What has 
happened? What reasons could prevent my 
marriage with Claudet?" 

"Important reasons, my daughter. I do not 
feel authorized to tell you but you may be sure 
that I am not speaking lightly and that you can 
depend upon my word." 

Reine became pensive, her lips quivered, her 
eyes grew anxious. 

"I have the greatest confidence in you, sir, 
but — " 

"But you hesitate to believe me," interrupted 
the abbe wounded at not finding the blind confi- 
dence upon which he counted. 

"You should, however, think that your pastor 
has no interest in deceiving you and that when 
he tries to influence you he has only your welfare 
in this world and the next in view." 


QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 189 

“I do not doubt your good intentions,” said 
Reine firmly, “but an engagement cannot be 
broken without some weighty reasons. I have 
given my word to Claudet and I am too honora- 
ble to retract it without telling him why I have 
done so.” 

“You will find a pretext.” 

“If Claudet could be satisfied with a pretext, 
my conscience would not be,” objected the young 
girl, raising her frank, clear eyes to the priest’s 
face. "Your words have made me uneasy. I 
cannot bear suspense nor half disclosures. You 
have considered it your duty to inform me that 
I cannot marry Claudet; now tell me why?” 

“Why, why?” repeated the abbe, impatiently. 
“I would like to tell you, but I am not author- 
ized to gratify your imprudent curiosity. You 
should be less proud of spirit and believe with- 
out any discussion!” 

“In point of faith, that is impossible,” said 
Reine, obstinately. “But my marriage has no 
connection with the truths of the church. I 
therefore insist respectfully upon being enlight- 
ened, sir, if not—” 


190 QjJEEhl OF THE IVOODS 

"If not,” exclaimed Abbe Pernot. 

"If not, I will keep my word and wed Claudet.” 

"You would not do that!” he protested, clasp- 
ing his hands. "After having been duly warned 
by me, you would not burden your soul with 
so terrible a responsibility. Does not the respon- 
sibility of committing a mortal sin alarm you, 
my child?” 

"I cannot sin in ignorance, and as for my con- 
science, sir, do you think it is Christian-like to 
alarm it without explaining?" 

"Is that your fixed determination?” asked the 
abbe. 

"That is my fixed determination,” she repeated 
vehemently. 

"You are stubborn and proud,” exclaimed the 
priest rising. "You force me to speak? Very 
well, I will, for evil would result from it and 
would fall upon you, but you must not reproach 
me for the sorrow I am about to cause you.” 

He paused a moment, clasped his hands, look- 
ed up at the interlaced branches of the trees and 
mu ^red as if he were in his oratory: 


QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 191 

"Lord, you are a witness that I wished to turn 
this cup from her, but of two evils we must 
choose the lesser. If I fail in my duty of char^ 
ity, consider, oh, God, that I do so to avoid a 
sca.idal; and deign to pardon your servant!" 

He reseated himself, put one of his hands tr 
his eyes and with Reine’ s eyes upon him, he 
commenced in a low voice: 

"My child, you have compelled me to violate 
a secret which has been'solemly confided to me. 
It has to deal with matters which ordinarily 
one does not relate to young girls, but you are, 
I think, already a woman in heart and intellect 
and you will listen calmly to what I am about 
to tell you, although it will cause you pain. I 
have told you that your marriage with Claudet is 
impossible, and I add that it would be criminal, 
for Claudet is your brother; you had not the 
same mother, but the same father — Claude 
Oudart de Buxieres.” 

"You are mistaken; it is not so!" 

"It is so! I am grieved, my daughter, to 
wound you by revealing to you a mistake made 


192 QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

by your mother which she atoned for, like King 
David, with tears of blood. She confessed it 
not to a priest, but to a friend, several days be- 
fore her death. She was more sinned against 
than sinning. Her betrayer himself acknowl- 
edged that, in a letter he intrusted to me and 
which I have here.” 

The abbe drew from his pocket a letter, yellow 
with age and held it before Reiners eyes. In 
that note, written by Claude de Buxieres in re- 
sponse, no doubt, to his mistress* anxious re- 
proaches, he in a manner apologized for his 
error and tried to calm Mme. Vincart*s fears by 
promising her, as was his custom, to care for 
their child’s future. 

“That child was you, my poor girl," concluded 
the abbe, picking up the letter which Reine had 
cast aside after glancing at it. 

The girl did not seem to have heard him. She 
had buried her face in her hands in order to 
hide the blush which mounted to her brow, and 
she did not move, so crushed was she by the 
disgrace of that revelation; at intervals, convul- 

























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QUEEN OF THE H^OODS 193 

sive sobs shook her frame with great anguish. 

"You can now understand," continued the 
priest, "how overcome I was on hearing of the 
project of your marriage. I could not confide in 
Claudet the cause of my stupefaction ; I even 
hoped I would be understood by you upon hint- 
ing at the matter in order to spare you that cruel 
mortification; but you willed otherwise! Par- 
don me for imposing that cross upon you and 
bear it bravely, like a Christian.” 

"You did what was best,” murmured Reine. 
"Thank you, sir.” 

"Will you dismiss Claudet after to-day?" 

"I will.” 

Abbe Pernot attempted to take her hand and 
to utter words of consolation, but she freed her- 
self with a wild gesture and fled toward the house. 
When she entered the kitchen, she found it 
empty. The blinds had been partly closed- 
drawn on account of the sun — and a refreshing 
darkness reigned within the room. Upon the 
shelves, among the copper utensils hopped the 

magpie uttering shrill cries, and in his corner 
Queen of the Woods — 13 


1U4 QUEEN OF THE PVOODS 

among the colored pictures lay old Vincart, his 
eyes closed, his lips parted. As the door creaked 
on its hinges, he opened his eyes. He divined 
that it was Reine although he did not see her, 
and his pallid lips uttered their customary re- 
frain: 

"Reine! Rei-eine!” 

Impetuously Reine ran toward the paralytic, 
knelt beside him and sobbing kissed his hands. 
Her caresses were more respectful, more hum- 
ble and contrite. 

"Oh, papa, papa!" she moaned. "I have 

loved you dearly; I shall now love you more 
than ever!" 


VIII 

In the sunny kitchen Reine, caring for M. Vin- 
cart and her household, reflected upon the mor- 
tifying revelations made by Abbe Pernot. She 
knew that Claudet would come to the La Thuiliere 
to learn the result of the priest’s visit; she did 
not feel sufficiently mistress of herself to have 
a decisive conversation with him at once, and she 
resolved to absent herself from the farm in order 
to gain at least a day. That delay seemed neces- 
sary to her that she might collect her thoughts 
and find some means of freeing herself from the 
Great Huntsman without his suspecting the true 
motive of that rupture. She bade Margaret say 
that unexpected work had called her away, and 
she set out for the woods of Maigrefontaine. 

Every time that she had wished to form a res- 
olution, the forest had been her refuge and her 

inspirer. Although humiliated, disgraced, in 
195 


196 QUEEï^ OF THE IVOODS 

the depths of her heart she felt a tremor of joy. 

Upon closer examination she found out the 
cause: she knew that she was freed from her ob- 
ligation to marry Claudet, and the prospect of 
regaining her liberty afforded her relief. Dur- 
ing the past few weeks she had deeply regretted 
the impulse of anger which had forced her into 
that engagement. Her loyalty and sincerity 
suffered by the restraint imposed upon them; it 
had required such an effort on her part to meet 
her betrothed pleasantly without encouraging his 
too demonstrative tenderness, that the knowledge 
of her regained freedom awoke a sense of ease 
within her. But scarcely had that secret satis- 
faction possessed her than she reproached herself 
for not thinking of the sorrow she was about to 
cause Claudet. 

Poor Claudet! what a trial awaited him! He 
was so artless and had such implicit faith in the 
success of his projects! Heine’s heart was 
touched by one tender thought. As if she had 
divined the bouds which attached her to the 
Great Huntsman, she had loved him as a sister. 







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QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 197 

From childhood to the age at which they learned 
their catechism together on the church porch, a 
feeling of amicable good-fellowship had united 
them. With Reine that sentiment had remained 
friendship, but with Claudet it had ripened into 
love; and having allowed him to believe that his 
love was returned by her, she was to be forced 
to undeceive him. She tried to find a means 
which would help- her to allay his pain, but 
she was unsuccessful. Claudet was too deeply 
in love to be satisfied with mere words; he 
would demand serious reasons, and the only one 
which would convince him was just the one the 
young girl could not disclose to him. She was 
destined to permit Claudet to leave her with the 
opinion that she had played the part of a heart- 
less coquette. 

In her distress Reine cast glances of despair 
upon the forest trees. She seemed to say to the 
beeches: "Inspire me!" To the roses by the 

wayside: "Teach me a secret with which to 

heal the wound I am about to inflict!" But the 
forest, which once had been her wisest counselor 


198 QUEEh! OF THE IVOODS 

and guide, remained deaf to her invoca- 
tion. 

Reine did not return to La Thuiliere until 
dusk. Margaret informed her that Claudet had 
awaited her part of the afternoon, and that he 
would return the following morning at nine 
o’clock. 

Notwithstanding her bodily fatigue. Reine 
had difficulty in sleeping; her rest was disturbed 
by feverish dreams. As soon as she closed her 
eyes, she fancied she was talking with Claudet, 
and awoke with a start at the sound of his angry 
voice. At day-break she rose and went down- 
stairs, in order to accomplish her early duties as 
quickly as possible; and when the clock chimed 
nine she went out and strolled along the road by 
which the Great Huntsman would come. 

Soon she saw him advancing rapidly; her heart 
contracted, her hands grew cold, but she wres- 
tled with the emotion that possessed her and ap- 
proached Claudet bravely. When the latter was 
not more than fifty paces from her, he recog- 
nized Reine and exclaimed merrily: 


QUEEN OF THE JVOODS 


199 


"Ho, my queen! good morning; it was kind of 
you to come to meet me." 

"Good morning, Claudet! I have come to 
meet you because I wish to speak to you of im- 
portant matters, and I preferred that the conver- 
sation should not take place in the house. Shall 
we walk to Planche au Vacher?” 

He halted, surprised at the proposition, as well 
as at the sorrowful, yet resolute manner of his 
betrothed. He examined her more closely, her 
eyes with their deep circles, her pale cheeks, 
and asked: 

"What ails you. Reine? You are not as you 
usually are. Do you feel ill?" 

"Yes — and no! I spent a miserable night pon- 
dering upon things which troubled me and which, 
I think, have given me a little fever!" 

"What things? Do they concern us?” 

"Yes," she replied, laconically. 

Claudet began to be alarmed by the girPs 
mournful gravity. However, seeing that she 
quickened her steps with a pensive air, her head 
lowered, her brows contracted, her lips com- 


200 QUEEh! OF THE IVOODS 

pressed, he became timid, and dared not urge 
her to speak. They walked along thus in silence 
until they reached the plain. 

"Let us stop here," said Reine, seating herself 
upon a stone; "we can talk without fear of inter- 
ruption." 

"To be sure," said Claudet with a forced smile. 
"With the exception of the herdsman of Vivey 
who occasionally passes by with his cattle, we 
shall not see very many people." 

He tried to be cheerful, but in reality he was 
ill at ease. 

"Have you a secret to tell me. Reine?" he con- 
tinued. 

"No," she replied, "but I know that my words 
will grieve you, my poor Claudet, and I would 
rather you should hear them in this remote spot." 

"Epxlain yourself!" he cried. "For God’s 
sake, do not keep me in suspense!" 

"Listen, Claudet! When you proposed to me, 
I said 'yes’ without taking time for reflection. 
But the more I think of our marriage, the more 
I am troubled by scruples. My father grows 


QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 201 

daily worse, and with him in his condition I 
really have no right to live for any other but him. 
They say that he has divined our intentions, for 
since your visits he has grown more restless and 
suffering. I believe that any change in his hab- 
its would bring on a stroke; and I should never 
forgive myself for shortening his life. I feel 
that having him to care for, I cannot marry. On 
the other hand, I do not wish to abuse your pa- 
tience. I therefore, beseech you to release me.” 

“That is to say you do not want to marry me !” 
he cried sadly. 

“No, my poor Claudet, it only means that I do 
not wish to marry while M. Vincart lives, and 
that I cannot have you wait until I am free. 
Pardon me for having pledged my word so lightly 
and do not deprive me of your friendship on that 
account. ” 

“Reine," the “Great Huntsman” interrupted 
vehemently, “do not trouble yourself to make me 
believe that it is night in the day-time. I am 
no child, and I know that M. Vincart* s health is 
only a pretext. You do not wish to marry me, 


202 QUEEN OF THE WOODS 

that is the truth; you have changed your mind. 
The day before yesterday you told me to set the 
wedding-day with Abbe Pernot. Now that you 
have seen the priest, you wish to break off with 
me. I am curious to know what that miserable 
abbe can have said against me to cause you to 
change your mind." 

Claudet recalled several of his mad pranks — 
meetings with sweethearts and so forth — and he 
suspected the priest of having reported them to 
Reine. "Ah," he continued, "if that rascal in 
the cassock has played me a trick." 

"Rest assured," said Reine hastily, "that M. 
Pernot is, like me, your friend; he likes you 
very much and always speaks well of you tome." 

"Indeed," sneered the young man, "since you 
both like me so much, how is it that you wish 
to break off our engagement just the day after 
your interview with the priest?" 

Reine, knowing Claudet^ s impulsive nature, 
and wishing to prevent an altercation with the 
abbe, felt justified in resorting to a falsehood: 

"M. Pernot," said she, "had nothing to do with 


QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 


203 


my resolution. He has not spoken against you 
and he is free from all blame." 

"In that case, why do you not wish to marry 
me?" 

"I repeat that m}^ father’s happiness must be 
conulsted first. I do not want to marry as long 
as he needs me. " 

"Very well," obstinately replied Claudet, "I 
love you and I will wait." 

"That cannot be." 

"Why not?" 

"Because," she expostulated, "because that 
would not be well for you, for my father, nor for 
me. Because long courtships never prove to be 
lucky." 

"Those are poor reasons! " he muttered gloom- 
ily. 

'‘Be they poor or not," replied the girl, "they 
seem reasons to me, and I will adhere to them." 

"Reine," said he, approaching her and gazing 
fixedly into her eyes, "can you swear to me by 
your father that those are your reasons for re- 
jecting me?" 


204 


QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 


She remained silent. 

“You dare not swear,’’ he exclaimed. 

“My word should he sufficient,’’ she stammered. 

“No, it is not sufficient for me. But your 
silence tells its own story! You are too honest. 
Reine; you are not skilled in telling falsehoods. 
I have read the true reason in your eyes; it is 
that you do not love me.’’ 

She shrugged her shoulders and turned away 
her head. 

“No, you do not love me. If you had any love 
for me, instead of discouraging me, you would 
give me a little hope and would bid me be pa- 
tient. You have never loved me! I might have 
known it sooner but I tried to deceive myself. 
If you have any friendship for me, confess it! ’’ 

In the face of such persistence, Reine gradu- 
ally lost her assurance. She no longer hesitated, 
for she knew that the avowal he required would 
be the only means of freeing herself from him! 

“Well,” she murmured, casting down her eyes, 
“since you force me to tell you the truth, which 
I wished to conceal from you, yes, you have 


QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 205 

guessed it. I love you as a sister, that is all. 
I have determined that in order to marry, one 
must love differently; and I feel that my heart 
is not yours entirely.” 

"Yes,” interrupted Claudet, bitterly, "it is 
some one else^s. ” 

“What do you mean? I do not understand." 

“I mean that you love another!” he cried. 

“It is not true!” Reine protested. 

“You are blushing; a proof that I hit the 
mark! Enough!” he cried imperiously. "You are 
right. From the moment that you tire of me, I 
have no right to ask more. Adieu!” 

He turned upon his heel. Reine, fearing she 
had been too harsh and not wishing to let him 
depart with so heavy a heart, detained him by 
placing her hand on his arm. 

“Claudet,” she besought, “do not let us part in 
anger! I am sorry to have given you pain and I 
regret having spoken so harshly. Give me your 
hand, the hand of good-fellowship, will 
you?” 

But Claudet recoiled from her touch with a 


206 QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

wild gesture, casting an angry glance upon her. 

“Thank you, for your pity,” he said rudely; 
*T do not want it." 

She knew that she had wounded him deeply, 
and insisted no longer but walked away with 
tearful eyes. For a time he remained motionless 
with folded arms, then he turned; he could see 
Heine’s form indistinctly through the mist. He 
crossed the fields of Planche au Vacher. The 
heavy sky, the enshrouding mist harmonized with 
Claudet’s mental condition. 

"Another — she loves another!" thought he, 
"why did I not perceive that the first day?" 

Then he remembered Heine’s startled manner 
when he solicited a caress; he recalled her re- 
quest that their engagement should remain secret, 
her eagerness to defer their marriage when he 
pressed her to fix the date. It was -evident that 
she had only accepted him at the instance of 
Julien de Buxieres. 

Julien! Might he not perchance be the rival 
in possession of Heine’s heart? But if she had 
loved M. de Buxieres, by reason of what caprice 


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QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 207 

or of what inconsistency would she have accepted 
the advances of another suitor? 

"What part had Julien played through it all?" 
he asked himself. "Does M. de Buxieres know 
that Reine loves him, and does he love her? 
With a man as uncommunicative and mysterious 
as my cousin, it is not easy to discover the hid- 
den workings of his mind. At any rate I have 
nothing to complain of; since divining my love 
for Reine, not content with keeping in the back- 
ground, he offered to be my ambassador. Yet, 
there must be something wrong; I shall find it 
out." 

At that moment through the fog he heard the 
chime of the bells at Vivey. Already eleven 
o’clock; how time flies even when one is troubled! 

He continued on his way to the castle and 
without waiting to reply to Manette’ s questions, 
he entered the room in which lunch was to be 
served. Claudet’ s sudden entrance caused Julien, 
who was in the room, to start. He observed 
his cousin’s shortness of breath and changed ap- 
pearance. 


208 QUEEN OF THE H^OODS 

“Eh, eh,” he exclaimed sarcastically, “what is 
your hurry? Have you come at last to tell me 
that your wedding-day is fixed?" 

“No,” replied Claudet briefly. “There will be 
no wedding." 

Julien started again, and stopping in front of 
his cousin, he said : 

“What; are you joking?" 

“I am not in a jesting mood. Reine no longer 
cares for me and she has broken her engage- 
ment. ” 

As he uttered those words, he watched Julien^ s 
face; he saw the contracted features relax, and 
in his eyes glowed the same happy light which 
he had noticed a few days before when he had 
told him of the, to him, incomprehensible delay 
required by Reine. 

“What has caused this singular change?" 
stammered Buxieres. “What reasons did Mile. 
Vincart give in explanation?” 

“The condition of M. Vincart^ s health and her 
desire to remain with him. You know of course, 
that I take those excuses for what they are worth. 



i 












QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 


209 


The cause of her refusal is more serious and mor- 
tifying. ’’ 

“You know it then?” exclaimed Julien impa- 
tiently. 

“I know it, for I finally forced Reine to con- 
fess it.” 

“What is it?” 

“That she does not love me.” 

“Reine — does not love you! ” 

Again the young man’s eyes sparkled. Claud- 
et leaned against the table facing his cousin; 
he continued to look him straight in the eyes: 

“That is not all. Not only does Reine not love 
me, she loves another. ’ 

Julien changed color, the blood rushed to his 
cheeks, brow and ears; he bent his head. 

“Did she tell you so?” he asked faintly. 

"No, but I guessed it. Her heart is won and 
I think I know who has it.” 

Claudet articulated those last words slowly, 
laboriously. At the same time he stared into 
Julien de Buxieres’ face with redoubled curios- 
ity. The latter grew more and more confused. 

Queen of the Woods — 14 


210 


QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 


“Whom do you suspect?” he stammered. 

Oh," replied the ‘‘Great Huntsman," recur- 
ring to a rustic ruse in order to penetrate the 
obscure depth of his cousin’ s heart more readil}^, 

“ some one whom it is useless for me to name to 
you, for you do not know him." 

"A stranger!" 

Julien’ s countenance changed again. His 
hands trembled nervously, he compressed his 
lips and his eye? flamed that time, not with sat- 
isfaction, but anger. 

‘‘Yes, a stranger; a clerk at the iron works 
at Grancey, I think,” evasively replied Claud- 
et. 

‘‘You think, you think, " exclaimed Julien, irri- 
tably. ‘‘Why are you not better posted before 
you accuse Mile. Vincart of such treason?" 

He recommenced pacing the floor, while his 
companion remained motionless and silent, his 
eyes fastened upon him. 

"It is not possible," Julien continued; "Reine 
could not have deceived us both thus! When I 
spoke to her of your wish to marry her, it would 


QUEE}^ OF THE IVOODS 211 

have been so easy to have told me that she loved 
somebody else! ” 

"She had probably," said Claudet, shaking his 
head, "reasons for not telling you." 

"What reasons?" 

"She undoubtedly thought then that the man 
she preferred did not care for her. I fancy that 
Reine only accepted me because she had no one 
better. Later on, as she is too frank to dissim- 
ulate long, she dismissed me." 

"And," interrupted Julien, "you who were her 
accepted lover, did not stand up for your rights; 
you allowed yourself to be evicted by a rival of 
whose intentions you are not even certain! " 

"I was forced to it! To marry a girl against 
her will is to run a great risk. From the mo- 
ment another is preferred to me, I have nothing 
more to say — I retire." 

"And you call that love! " cried Buxieres. 
"You call that being seriously in love! Great 
heavens, had I been in your place I should have 
acted differently! Instead of abandoning the 
field, I would have remained near Reine; I would 


212 QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

have surrounded her with my love. My passion 
would have expressed itself with so much force 
that its flame would have passed into her hearty 
and I would have compelled her to love me! 
Ah, if I had believed — if I had dared, all would 
have been different !” 

He spoke in disconnected sentences, with wild 
excitement. He did not weigh his words nor 
seem to remember that any one was present. 
Claudet looked at him with a gloomy air and 
thought with poignant resignation: 

“I have gauged you now and I know what is 
in your heart.” 

Manette, who brought in the lunch, interrupted 
their conversation and they were obliged to 
assume an indifferent air. In her presence both 
men preserved a prudent reserve. They ate in 
silence, but when the cloth was once removed 
and they were alone, Julien, pushing back his 
chair and casting an indefinable glance upon 
Claudet, murmured: 

“Well, what have you decided on?” 

'T will tell you to-morrow,” replied the Great 


QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 2Vt 

Huntsman briefly. He left the dining-room 
abruptly, informed Manette that he would not 
return until late, and crossed the fields, followed 
by his dog. He took his gun, but he allowed 
the hares to decamp without aiming at them. 

He thought over his conversation with his cousin. 
The sitution seemed more clear to him. Julien 
loved the Queen of the Woods and struggled vainly 
against that passion. For what reason did he 
conceal his love? What was evident was that 
in despite of his prejudices of rank and of 
his pusillanimity, Julien loved Mile. Vincart 
with a concentrated and ardent passion. As for 
Reine, Claudet was more and more persuaded 
that she was secretly in love, although she had 
denied it. But who was her choice? The Great 
Huntsman knew that there could be no serious 
rival other than his cousin de Buxieres. No 
village swain nor youth from the neighboring 
boroughs had ever courted M. Vincart* s daughter 
and Julien possessed enough qualities to please 
Reine. 

Claudet assured himself that if he had been a 


214 QUEEN OF THE iVOODS 

girl he would never have chosen Julien for a 
lover; but women for the most part have tastes 
which men cannot understand. Julien’ s sensi- 
tive nature, his timidity and reserve might have 
charmed that strange girl. She loved him, had 
loved him for some time probably, only as she 
was very bright, she might have divined that 
Buxieres would never marry her, because their 
rank was not the same. Later on, on seeing 
him whom she loved plead the cause of another, 
her pride had revolted, and she had cast herself 
at the first comer as if to punish herself for 
the disdain of the only man she had taken 
notice of. Thus with that lucid intuition which 
came from the heart, Claudet concluded by dis- 
entangling the truth. 

At length he rose and went to sup — or to pre- 
tend to sup — at the same inn at which he had 
lunched with Julien and from which the latter 
had set out on his ambassade to Reine. That 
remembrance alone would have sufficed to spoil 
his appetite. He did not remain at the table 
long. He was restless and set out for Vivey. 


QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 215 

When he arrived at the castle, all were in bed. 
Noiselessly, with Montagnard at bis heels, he 
crept up to his room, and worn out by fatigue, 
he fell into a heavy sleep. The following morn- 
ing his first visit was to Julien who was nervous 
and feverish, having passed a bad night. Claud- 
et’s revelations once more unbalanced his mind 
and planted fresh thorns of jealousy in his breast. 

On hearing of the broken engagement, he had 
at first experienced a selfish feeling of joy, and 
hope had reawakened; but the thought of Mile. 
Vincart’s probable affection for an unknown 
lover had sobered him sadly. He was angry at 
Reiners duplicity and Claudet’s cowardly resig- 
nation. He was seized with violent paroxysms 
of rage; he was tempted to go in search of the 
young girl, to reproach her for what he called her 
"lack of faith," then to cast himself at her feet 
and to avow his own passion. But his diffidence 
rapidly triumphed over those brief flickerings of 
audacity. The minute analysis to which he sub- 
mitted the workings of his mind, gradually dis- 
accustomed him to act. 


216 QUEEN OF THE H^OODS 

It was in that state that Claudet surprised 
him. When the door opened, Julien raised his 
head and cast a doleful glance at his cousin. • 

“Well?” he asked languidly. 

“Well,” began Claudet, “on thinking over what 
has taken place during the past month, I have 
discovered one thing of which I was doubt- 
ful.” 

“Of which you were doubtful?” repeated Bux- 
ieres. 

“I will tell you. You remember the first con- 
versation we had together with regard to Reine? 

I suspected you of being in love with her.” 

"1 do not remember it,” murmured Julien with 
a blush, 

“In that case, my memory is better than yours, 
M. de Buxieres. To-day my suspicions have 
become certainty. You do love Reine Vincart.” 

“I?” Julien attempted to protest. 

“Do not deny it. Rather confide in me; your 
confidence will not be misplaced. You love 
Reine and have loved her some time. You have 
succeeded in hiding it from me, but yesterday I 


QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 


217 


made the discovery. Now, dare to say anything 
to the contrary! ’’ 

Julien had covered his face with one of his 
hands. After a moment’s silence, he replied 
sullenly: 

“And if it were so? Of what avail would it 
be since Reine loves another?” 

"That is another thing. Reine does not care 
for me, and I think indeed that she is in love 
with some one else. But, to be candid, the clerk 
at Grancey was a lover of my invention; she 
never dreamed of him.” 

“Then,” cried Buxieres impetuously, “why that 
falsehood?” 

‘Because I played false in order to learn the 
truth. Pa’.'don me — but I succeeded in finding 
out that which you took such pains to conceal." 

^ ;ealed it — yes, I concealed it! Was I 
ncc xight, as I was convinced that Reine loved 
you?" said Julien in a suffocated voice, as if the 
avowal choked his utterance. “I thought I 
would not allow my feelings to be seen by peo- 
ple who cared nothing about them." 


218 QUEEIs Oh THE IVOODS 

“You were wrong, replied poor Claudet with 
a deep sigh; “if you had spoken, I fancy you 
would haye been better received than I, and you 
would have saved me a great blow. 

He uttered those words in a tone so impreg- 
nated with sadness that Julien, notwithstanding 
the selfish thoughts with which he was absorl^ed, 
was moved by it. Under the influence of that 
impulse he was on the point of confessing with- 
out reticence the deep love he bore Reine Vin- 
cart; but the long habit of keeping everything 
to himself was too inveterate for him to become 
suddenly communicative; he experienced a mod- 
est repugnance to laying bare his heart and he 
contented himself with mmrmuring: 

“You do not love her then any longer?" 

“I? Oh, yes! To be refused by the only 
woman I have ever wished to marry is a heavy 
blow to me. I am so disheartened that I feel 
as if I should like to leave the country. By 
going away I might perhaps do you a good turn 
and that thought would console me somewhat. 
You have treated me as a friend, M. de Buxieres, 


QUBEN OF THE IVOODS 


219 


and it is a matter I cannot forget. I have not 
the means of repaying your kindness, but it 
seems to me that I shall feel less grieved at go- 
ing away if I can think that my departure will 
leave the road free for you to return to La Thuil 
iere. ” 

"You are going to leave Vivey on my account?" 
exclaimed Julien. 

"Not alone on your account, rest assured. If 
Reine had loved me, I should never have dreamed 
of making a like sacrifice. But Reine does not 
care for me. I am of no use here — except to 
annoy you! " 

"That is absurd! Where would you go?" 

"Oh, I am not particular. I might for exam- 
ple, become a soldier. Why should I not? I 
am a good walker and a good shot; I am quali- 
fied for a military life. It is a profession I like, 
and I may win my spurs as others have done. 
In that manner, M. de Buxieres, matters will be 
arranged to every one’s satisfaction." 

"Claudet," stammered Julien, sobs almost 
choking his utterance, "you are better than I! ** 


220 QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

He rushed toward the “Great Huntsman,” pressed 
him to, his breast and embraced him affection- 
ately. 

“I do not wish you to expatriate yourself on my 
account,” he continued. “Commit no inconsid- 
erate act, I beseech you.” 

“Rest assured,” replied Claudet laconically, 
“if I decide it will not be hastily.” 

For some time he had entertained the project 
of departing. Daily his position at Vivey be- 
came more insupportable; without saying any- 
thing to anyone, he had gone to Langres and had 
consulted an officer of his acquaintance on the 
subject of the necessary preliminaries with re- 
gard to enrollment. Finally one morning he re- 
solved to set out for the military division to sign 
his engagement. He did not, however, wish to 
consummate that sacrifice without seeing Reine 
Vincart once again. In the depths of his heart 
he retained a vague hope, the sole bond which 
attached him to his native soil. 

Instead of following the Vivey road, he struck 
out for La Thuiliere and reached the plain from 


QUEEt^ OF THE IVOODS 221 

which one could see the roof of the farm and the 
castle towers. There he paused, his heart failed 
him. He was only a few paces from the farm, 
yet he hesitated to enter ; not because he feared 
an unkind reception, but because he was afraid 
that he might lose his courage and be unmanned 
for his departure. 

He leaned against the trunk of an old pear 
tree and looked at the landscape. 

One feature in particular impressed Cluadet; 
the fields and the woods presented the same 
lights and shadows as upon that afternoon of 
the preceding year when he had met Reine in 
the forest several days before Julien^ s arrival. 

The same soft light shed its radiance upon the 
wild cherry trees, the tomtits and robins chirped 
among the branches and he could hear the beech- 
nuts fall upon the gravel walks; things would 
be just the same when he, Claudet, was gone. 
There would only be one man less on the village 
streets, one huntsman lacking when hunting be- 
gan in the forests of Charbonnière. The thought 
of how little importance man was upon earth and 


222 QUEEh! OF THE IVOODS 

of the ease with which he could be forgotten, 
unconsciously helped the “Great Huntsman” to 
become more resigned and he decided to enter 
La Thuiliere. 

Just as he was going into the court, he met 
Reine who was going out. The girl fancied he 
had come to make another attempt to change her 
resolution. She dreaded a renewal of the pain- 
ful scene which had closed their last interview 
and her first impulse was to place herself upon 
the defensive. She frowned and looked coldly 
and inquiringly at Claudet, as if to keep him at 
a distance. But the sadness upon her brother's 
face filled her with pity. She prudently con- 
cealed her emotion; she endeavored to assume 
the cordial tone of by-gone days. 

“Good morning, Claudet," she said, “you have 
come opportunely. Fifteen minutes later you 
would not have found me here. Will you come 
in and rest a moment?" 

"Thank you, Reine," he murmured, "I do not 
wish to detain you. Only I am sorry I was so 
angry the other day. You are right, we must 




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QUEEhJ OF THE H/OODS 


323 


not part in anger and — as I am going away— for 
along time — I wish to offer you the hand of good 
fellowship before leaving.” 

"You are going away?” 

“Yes, I am going to be a soldier, and egad! 
one knows when one goes away, but one does not 
know when one will return! That is why I wish 
to bid you adieu and to make peace in order not 
to depart with too heavy a heart.” 

Reine felt the remainder of her coldness eva- 
nesce. The man who was going away on her ac- 
count had been her playmate in childhood — was 
indeed her nearest relative. Her throat closed, 
her eyes filled with tears. She turned away her 
head, and that he might not observe her agita- 
tion she hastily opened the kitchen-door and said : 

'‘Come in, Claudet, we can talk better in the 
house; and you will take some refreshment be- 
fore setting out, will you not?” 

He obeyed her and followed her into the house. 
She went herself in quest of a bottle of old wine, 
brought two glasses and filled them with an un- 
steady hand. 


224 QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

“Shall you remain in the service long?” she 
asked. 

“I have engaged for seven years.” 

“You have chosen a life of hardship." 

“What should I do?” he replied. “I could not 
remain here and do nothing.” 

Claudet, too much affected to see that Reine’s 
impassibility was only superficial, thought, “she 
looks upon my departure as quite in the order of 
things; she treats me as she would M. Theotime 
or Collector Boucheseiche. A glass of wine, two 
or three indifferent questions and then good-bye, 
take care of yourself.” 

He too assumed a careless air and cried: 

“Bah, that professsion has always had a charm 
for me. A soldier^ s gun is a trifle heavier than 
a hunter’s, that is all. Then I shall see the 
world; that will develop my mind.” 

He crossed the kitchen and chatted to the 
magpie» Then he walked toward M. Vincart 
lying in his niche. He took the paralytic’s hand, 
pressed it gently and tried to engage him in con- 
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QUEEh Or THE JVOODS 225 

When he returned to Reine’ s side, he raised 
his glass. 

‘‘Your health, Reine,” said he with forced gay- 
ety, ‘‘when I return you shall see. I will be a 

finished soldier. ' 

However, when he put the glass to his lips, 
tears rolled down his eeks and mingled with 
the wine. 

‘‘Well,” he sighed, turning away his head in 
order to wipe his eyes with the back of his hand, 
‘‘it is time to go. Take care of yourself and 
think of me occasionally.” 

She accompanied him to the door. 

"Adieu, Reine." 

"Adieu," she murmured in a low voice. In 
her agitation she extended both of her hands. 
He saw her emotion, he imagined that she still 
loved him, that perhaps she regretted having 
rejected him and impulsively he clasped her in 
his arms. He pressed her to his breast and im- 
printed two kisses bedewed with tears upon her 
cheek. He could not give her up and redoubled 
his caresses with passionate ardor. He lost his 
Queen of the Woods— 1 5 


226 QUEEh! OF THE IVOODS 

self control. His kisses grew so ardent that 
Reine was seized with shame and terror at the 
thought that the man who embraced her thus was 
her brother. She freed herself from his arms 
and pushed him aside violently. 

"Adieu! ’’ she repeated, entering the kitchen 
and hastily closing the door. 

Claudet remained for a moment in front o' 
that closed door and regaining his self-posses- 
sion, he turned away. 

When he looked back the roof of the farm was 
no longer visible and the stony, bare, waste land 
stretched before him. 

"No," he muttered between his teeth, "she has 
never loved me. She thinks only of the other 
one! There is nothing for me to do but to go 
awav and never return!" 


IX 


Arrived at Langres, Claudet enlisted in the 
Seventeenth regiment of foot. Five days later 
without heeding Manette^ s lamentations, he left 
Vivey for the camp at Sathonay, where his reg- 
iment was stationed. 

Julien remained alone at the castle. At first 
he experienced a sense of uneasiness. Never had 
he known how insignificant a position he occu- 
pied in his own home and how much life Claudet 
brought into it. He felt out of his element and 
blushed to find himself of so little use to him- 
self and tc others. At the same time new duties 
were imposed upon him which startled him. 
The management of the estates which Claudet 
had always attended to, fell entirely upon him. 

He felt, too, that he must be more attentive to 

sorrowing Manette in order to soften as much as 

possible the blow caused by her son’s unexpected 
097 


228 QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

departure. The old housekeeper was like Rachel 
inconsolable; she filled the house with her com- 
plaints and seemed to hold Julien responsible for 
her trouble. The latter treated her with patience 
and meritorious indulgence. He was compassion- 
ately kind and endeavored to make her life pleas- 
anter. He accustomed himself to rising at day- 
break. In hunting costume, followed by Mon- 
tagnard, whom he had taken under his protection 
since ClaudeRs departure, he sought the forest, 
visited the sections under cultivation, hired work- 
men, became acquainted with the people, inter- 
ested himelf in their labors, their joys and their 
sorrows; then when evening came, he was sur- 
prised at not feeling tired and lonesome,' and at 
eating with relish the supper prepared by Ma- 
nette. 

Since he had frequented the forest, no longer 
as a stranger and an idler, but with the intention 
of accomplishing a useful work, he learned to 
see and understand it better. Nature and human 
beings no longer inspired him with disdain min- 
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QUEEN OF THE PVOODS 229 

expanded, the exterior world seemed more at- 
tractive to him. 

In his thoughts he associated the beauty of 
the forest with liis love for Reine. Notwith- 
standing the strength of that love, he had not 
seen Mile. Vincart. At first, the preoccupation 
caused by Claudet’s departure, the new duties 
thrust upon him, had prevented him from think- 
ing of the possibility of a renewal of their rela- 
tions. 

Gradually, however, he began to consider the 
situation presented by his cousines generous sac- 
rifice and to wonder how he could profit by it. 

Glaudet’s departure, indeed, left the field free 
to him but as yet he lacked confidence. The 
mere fact that Reine had rejected the "Great 
Huntsman” did not seem to him sufficient en- 
couragement. The cause of that refusal he did 
not know. Even were Reine’ s heart free, it was 
not probable that she would love him. Could 
she forget the insult he had offered her? After 
that outrageous aggression in the collier’s cot- 
tage, he had committed the folly of proposing 


230 QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

for Claudet. Those were offenses a woman 
would not forgive! 

He had only seen Mile. Vincart at distant in- 
tervals, at mass on Sundays, and each time that 
he had tried to catch her eye, she turned away 
her head and pretended not to see him. She 
carefully avoided all intercourse with the cas- 
tle. 

When business matters obliged her to address 
M. de Buxieres, she did not write to him herself, 
but corresponded through the medium of M. 
Arbillot. 

Claudet’ s heroic departure availed nothing; 
matters remained as they had been and Julien 
after a brief dream of hope again became a prey 
to agitation. He thought that while he hesitated 
and remained silent the days and months were 
passing by; that Reine would soon attain her 
twenty-third year and that she would certainly 
marry. It was known that she had some money 
and suitors would not be lacking. Although she 
had rejected Claudet, she could not always re- 
main at the farm alone, and she would some day 


QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 231 

decide to marry, if not for love, at least for con- 
venience. 

"To think,” said Julien, "that she lives a few 
paces from me, that I love her and that I would 
only have to cross the tields to cast myself at 
her feet and that I do not dare to venture upon. 
Last spring in M. Theotime’s cottage I should 
have confessed my love instead of frightening 
her with brutal caresses! Now it is too late. I 
have wounded, insulted her. I have separated 
her from Claudet who loved her. I have made 
two people unhappy — without counting myself — 
and this is the result of my edifying tergiversa- 
tion! Oh, if one could only live one’s life 
over! " 

While he lamented, time flew by! The greater 
part of winter was gone, the March winds had 
ceased and one could already hear the cuckoo in 
the trees. 

Taking advantage of a bright morning, Julien 
went to visit a farm which he owned at Aujeures. 

After lunching with the farmer, he returned 
through the woods in order to enjoy the beauties 


232 QUEEI^ OF THE IVOODS 

of budding nature. He walked slowly along, 
recalling Reine’ s image as he came upon the 
star-like white flowers known by the name of 
Queen of the Woods. On his way he came to a 
ditch which he thought he could clear at a 
bound, and either he lost his balance or he was 
too preoccupied, for* his foot slipped and he fell. 

He rose and tried to walk, but a sharp pain 
in his ankle forced him to lean against a tree. 
His foot was as heavy as lead and when he put 
it on the ground; the pain was almost intolerable. 

He could only regain the path by dragging 
himself along from tree to tree. Exhausted by 
the effort, he sat down upon the grass, unbut- 
toned his gaiter and with difficulty unlaced his 
boot. His foot was swollen. He began to fear 
that he had sprained his ankle and wondered 
how he should reach Vivey. Montagnard, his 
faithful companion, snarled occasionally as if to 
say: 

“What ails you? how shall we get out of this?” 

Suddenly footsteps resounded on the pathway; 
Julien could hear the rustle of skirts amongst 


QUEEh! OF THE WOODS 233 

the brushwood and at the moment that he was 
thanking fortune for having sent along a passer- 
by, he saw the pale face of Reine at a turn in 
the road. She was accompanied by a village 
maiden, carrying a basketful of primroses and 
freshly gathered ivy. Reine was familiar with 
plants possessing medicinal virtues and gathered 
them herself in order to be able to administer 
them to the farm-servants in case of need. 

When only a few steps away, she saw Julien 
and her brow clouded over; but upon perceiving 
his suffering face and his injured foot, she 
quickly comprehended that something unusual 
had - happened and stopping near him she 
said: 

"You seem . to be in pain, M. de Buxieres. 
What has happened to you?” 

"An accident,” Julien replied, trying to appear 
unconcerned. "I fell and sprained my foot." 

The young girl’s face assumed a compassion- 
ate expression and after some hesitation, she 
asked: 

"Will you show me your foot? My mother 


2H4 QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

was a bone-setter and they say that I have inher- 
ited her secret for curing sprains.” 

She looked in her basket and drew from it an 
empty bottle and a white handkerchief. 

"Zelie, ” she said to the astonished girl, “go 
quickly and fill this bottle at the brook. ” 

As she spoke, Julien with many a blush, fin- 
ished taking off his boot and stocking. Reine, 
without any false prudery, raised the swollen 
member and examined it carefully. 

“I believe," she murmured, “that the muscles 
have been strained." 

Without another word, she tore the hand- 
kerchief into bandages. Zelie returned with the 
bottle filled with fresh w^ater and Reine poured 
it upon Julien’ s instep, then she adroitly 
rubbed the muscles, while Julien struggled hard 
to conceal his pain. Silently and attentively 
the young girl wrapped his foot in the linen 
bandages which she fastened with pins. 

“There," said she, “try to put on your boot, 
that will support your foot a little. Zelie, run 
to the farm as fast as you can, have the tilted 









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QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 235 

cart hitched and see - that it is brought 
hither as quickly as possible.” 

The girl picked up her basket and began to run. 

"M. de Buxieres, " continued Reine, “do you 
think you can walk as far as the drive by lean- 
ing on my arm?" 

“Yes,” he replied with a grateful glance which 
embarrassed Mile. Vincart, “your hands have 
soothed me as if by a miracle. I feel better and 
upon your arm I could go wherever you would!" 

She aided him to rise and he walked several 
paces leaning upon her. 

“That is better!" he sighed. 

He was so unutterably happy to be so near 
Reine, that he was unconscious of pain. 

“Walk slowly,” she said, “and do not fear to 
lean upon me. It is important that you should 
reach the drive." 

“How good you are," he stammered, “and how 
penitent I am! ” 

“Penitent, why?” interrupted Reine precipi- 
tately. 'T have done nothing extraordinary; any- 
one would have done as much. " 


230 QUEEh! OF THE IVOODS 

"I beseech you," he implored, "do not mar 
my happiness. I know very well that the first 
passer-by would have helped me, but the thought 
that it was you who came to my assistance 
makes me joyful, while it increases my remorse. 
I have so little merited that you should take an 
interest in me." 

He paused, hoping perhaps that she would 
ask for an explanation, but seeing that she re- 
mained impassive and did not seem to grasp his 
meaning, he added: 

"I have offended, displeased you. I have been 
cruelly punished for it. But tardy regrets are 
powerless to cure the wounds inflicted. Ah, if 
one could only blot out the hours during which 
one has been mad and blind." 

"Do not let us speak of it any more," she re- 
plied briefly, but in a voice singularly soft and 
gentle. In spite of herself, she was touched by 
the penitence expressed in those incoherent sen- 
tences. In proportion as Julien grew^ humble, 
Heine’s rancor vanished. She became convinced 
of the fact that she had always loved him, not- 


QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 237 

withstanding his faults, his defects and his awk- 
wardness. She experienced a blissful sensation 
in ascertaining that for the first time he had al- 
lowed her a glimpse of his heart. Both main- 
tained silence, but they felt drawn mutually 
nearer, a mute bond was established between them. 

From time to time Reine stopped that Julien 
might rest. Without any embarrassment she 
lent him the support of her arm or shoulder, and 
the young man seemed to gather renewed 
strength from that support. 

Slowly — but all too soon for them — they reached 
the end of the path and found the wagon await- 
ing them in the road. Julien climbed into it 
with the assistance of Reine and a servant. 
When he was placed upon the straw strewn in 
the bottom of the cart, Julien’s eyes met those 
of Reine and they exchanged by that means more 
significant confidences than they had during 
their entire journey. It only lasted a few mo- 
ments, but those few moments contained a con- . 
fession of love — avowals mingled with peni- 
tence, promises of pardon. 


238 


QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 


“Thank you, mademoiselle,” at length said 
Buxieres, “will you shake hands with me?” 

She gave him her hand and as he clasped it 
Reine turned to the driver on the box and said: 

“Justin, walk the horse so as to avoid jolting. 
Good evening, M. de Buxieres, send for the doc- 
tor as soon as you reach home and all will be 
well. I shall send over to obtain news of you." 

She strolled pensively along the road leading 
to La Thuiliere, while the wagon took the direc- 
tion of Vivey. The doctor, who was summoned 
to the castle, said that M. de Buxieres had 
sprained his ankle and that the first dressing 
had been well done.. He rebandaged his foot 
and ordered his patient to keep very quiet. Two 
days later, Margaret came to inquire about M. 
de Buxieres. She brought a large bouquet of lil- 
ies of the valley which Mile. Vincart sent to con- 
sole him for not being able to visit the woods 
and which Julien kept for several days. 

The sprain obtained at Maigrefontaine and 
providentially cared for by Reine, the young 
man’s return in a wagon from La Thuiliere, the 


QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 239 

sending of the bouquet of lilies, aroused Ma- 
nette’ s curiosity. She scented beneath all that a 
secret love-affair and spread the news through 
the village. Soon the entire community, from 
the woodmen to Abbe Pernot, knew that some- 
thing was “going on" between M. de Buxieres 
and old Vincart’s daughter. 

Meanwhile, Julien, not suspecting that his 
love for Reine was furnishing a topic of conver- 
sation for the gossips of the neighborhood, cursed 
the accident which confined him to his couch. 
At length he could put his foot upon the ground 
and walk with the aid of a cane, then in the 
course, of a few days the doctor allowed him to 
go out. 

His first visit was to La Thuiliere. He found 
Reine in the kitchen, seated near the sleeping 
paralytic. She was reading a newspaper which 
she kept in her hand when she rose to receive her 
visitor. 

After she had congratulated the latter upon his 
recovery and he had thanked . her warmly, she 
showed him the paper. 


240 QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

“I am very much disturbed," she said in some 
confusion, "it seems that there is to be war and 
that our troops are in Italy. Do you know any 
news of Claudet?" 

Julien started. He expected anything but that 
question. The "Great Huntsman’s" name had 
not been mentioned at Maigrefontaine and he 
had deluded himself with the hope that Reine 
no longer thought of him. Upon hearing that 
name from the girl’s lips, on witnessing the 
emotion which the reading of that newspaper 
caused her, all his mistrust returned and in an 
unsteady voice he replied: "He wrote to me a 
few days ago. He was very well." 

"Where is he?" 

"In Italy with his regiment. He told me he 
should leave the following day for Tortone, where 
they expected to engage in their first battle. " 

Reine’ s eyes grew humid and through her tears 
she murmured: 

"Poor Claudet, what is he doing now?" 

"Ah,” selfishly thought Julien, as his face 
darkened, "she loves him yet!" 


QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 


241 


Poor Claudet! That same evening wnur? they 
were talking of him at the farm, he encamped 
with his battalion not far from Vognera on the 
margin of an affluent of the Po. Hlà regiment 
formed the extreme outpost of the army, and, at 
nightfall, Claudet was on guard on the banks of 
that tributary. 

It was a magnificent night in M&y, the Italian 
sky with its myriads of stars seemed grander and 
nearer to the “Great Huntsman” than the misty 
sky of Haute-Marne. The nightingales warbled 
in the orchards. What delight to listen to 
them, what serenity enveloped that flowery plain! 

Who would mistrust that on both sides prep- 
arations were being made for a combat. At 
times shots were heard and the nightingales were 
silenced. Then all grew quiet and the chorus of 
birds^ voices recommenced. 

Claudet, leaning on his musket, thought that 
at the same time the nightingales were singing 
in the park at Vivey and the garden at La Thuil- 
iere. He saw Reine seated at her window listen- 
ing to that amorous melody. His heart swelled 

Queen of the Woods — 16 


242 QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

and a sensation of homesickness stole over him. 
As he wiped his eyes he grew ashamed of his 
weakness, the sense of his responsibility came 
over him and once more upon the watch he 
scoured the plain and the dark thicket in which 
the enemy might be concealed. 

The following day, the twentieth of May, a skir- 
mish took place. Claudet’s regiment attacked 
Montebello. The soldiers plunged into the 
rice-fields, scaled vineyards and charged the ene- 
my’ s columns. Through the confusion of the 
gun-shots and the thunder of artillery could be 
heard the guttural hurras of the Austrians and the 
cries mingled with oaths of the French troopers. 

The moats were heaped with corpses, the clar- 
ions sounded the charge, the living rushed to 
the fore. The ridges were crowned with masses 
of human beings, the first red-pantalooned sol- 
diers were seen on the streets of Montebello. 
They besieged the houses, courts and inclosures; 
momentarily could be heard blows upon barrica- 
ded doors, the breaking of windows, the cries of 
frightened women. The white uniforms fell back 


QUEEÎ^ OF THE IVOODS 243 

in disorder. The village belonged to the French! 
Not however, altogether! 

Near the cemetery there was a hillock and 
there the enemy was intrenched; drawing up 
their cannon they fired upon the village. The 
assailants hesitated and receded before that hur- 
ricane of shot. Then a general urged on his 
horse and rallied the men. One of the foremost, 
an alert soldier, broad of shoulder with a brown 
mustache and olive skin, rushed forward. It 
was Claudet! Others followed him and soon 
hundreds of men rushed toward- the cemetery 
with their bayonets. The “Great Huntsman” 
bounded across the fields as he had formerly 
done when in pursuit of a roebuck at Charbou- 
niere. 

To his right and left, soldiers fell around 
him, but he scarcely heeded them. The wall of 
the cemetery was scaled, they fought in the 
trenches, it was war to the knife. At last the 
redoubt was raised and the routing of the enemy 
began. At the moment that Claudet stooped to 
pick up a cartridge, a bullet struck him on the 


244 QUEEN OF THE WOODS 

forehead and without a sound he sank among 

the fennel which grew round the tombs. 

He ♦ * * * 

“I have sad news for you,” said Julien to 
Reine, entering the garden at La Thuiliere one 
June evening. The preceding day he had been 
officially informed by the mayor of the death of 
Germain-Claudet Séjournant of the Seventeenth 
regiment of foot, killed by the enemy. May 20, 
1859. 

Reine was standing between two rose-bushes. 
From M. de Buxieres’ first words she anticipa- 
ted bad news and turned pale. 

“Claudet?” she murmured. 

"He is dead,” said Julien in a low voice. "He 
was killed at Montebello.” 

The young girl stood before him motionless 
with tearless eyes, and for a moment Buxieres 
thought she would bear calmly the intelli- 
gence of the death of a man whom she had 
refused to marry. Suddenly she turned, took 
several steps, then leaning her head upon her 
folded arms, against a plum tree near by, she 


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QUEEN OF THE H^OODS 245 

burst into tears. By the convulsive motion of 
her shoulders one could perceive the violence of 
her sobs. 

M. de Buxieres, amazed at the sight of such 
grief, again became a prey to suspicion and mis- 
trust. He was jealous of the dead man for 
whom she wept. She must have loved Claudet to 
abandon herself before a witness to such a burst 
of grief. He tried to assuage it by sympathetic 
words, but he had scarcely spoken when she 
turned and fled, disappearing within the kitchen 
and closing the door behind her. Several mo- 
ments later, Margaret came to tell Buxieres that 
Reine desired to be alone and begged him to ex- 
cuse her. 

He left the farm, disconcerted, dejected, ready 
to weep himself at the failure of his hopes, and 
turned sadly toward Vivey. When he reached 
the village he met Abbe Pernot who was walking 
hastily in the direction of the castle. 

"Ah,” exclaimed the priest, “good-day, M. de 
Buxieres, I was just on my way to your house. 
Is it true that you have received bad news?" 


24C QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

Julien shook his head in the affirmative and 
informed the priest of the sad communication he 
had just received. 

“Poor fellow! ” sighed the abbe, “to go away 
at twenty-six, full of strength, of life, it is hard 
to die thus! He was so genial and such an excel- 
ent shot." Then, as he was not naturally melan- 
choly, and could not remain downcast long, he 
would console himself with a quotation from the 
Bible or by one of those pious commonplaces of 
which he was in the habit of making use; he 
would add in conclusion: “The Lord is just, he 
counts the hairs of our heads, and our destinies 
are in his hands! We will celebrate mass for 
the repose of ClaudePs soul.” 

He cleared his throat and glanced at Julien. 

“I wished to see you,” he continued, “for two 
reasons, M. de Buxieres. Firstly, to inform you 
of Claudet’s fate, and secondly to tell you of 
something — delicate — which concerns you, but 
which concerns another person as well, and dero- 
gates from the dignity of the parish.” 

Julien looked at him with a startled air. The 


QUEE}^ OF THE IVOODS 


247 


priest pushed open the park gate and entering 
first, added: "Come in, we can converse better 
here. " 

When they were beneath the trees, he contin- 
ued: 

"M. de Buxieres, do you know that you are 
giving the tongues of my parishioners cause to 
wag? Ah,” he added, in response to a gesture 
from his companion: “without premeditation, 1 
am certain, yet they gossip about you — and Reine. ” 

"About Mile. Vincart?” exclaimed Julien in- 
dignantly. "What can they say?" 

"Many things which displease me. They talk 
of the sprain you received at Maigrefontaine in 
company with Reine Vincart, of your return in 
her wagon, of your visits to La Thuiliere and 
the Lord knows what besides. And as mankind, 
especially women, are always more inclined to 
think ill than well of a person, they say you are 
compromising the girl. For Reine lives alone, 
so to speak, and without protection. It is there- 
fore my place as her pastor to care for her. 
That is why I have decided to ask you — to be 


I 


US QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

more circumspect and not to lay her open to crit 
icism.” 

"I do not understand you, sir! ’’ cried Julien 
angrily. 

“Egad, I have explained clearly enough. Hu- 
man nature is weak. A young girl soon loses 
her reputation if she receives attentions from a 
man who cannot marry her." 

“And why could I not marry her?” asked he 
with a blush. 

“Because she is not of your rank and because 
you do not love her well enough to overlook that 
difference.” 

“What do you know about it?” interrupted Ju- 
lien with vehemence. “I have no absurd preju- 
dices, and the obstacles are not on my side. But 
make yourself easy, sir,” he added bitterly, “the 
danger only exists in your parishioners’ imagina- 
tions; Reine has never given me a thought ; it was 
Claudet whom she loved!” 

“Hum, hum!” interpolated the priest doubt- 
fully. 

“You would not doubt it,” insisted Buxieres, 


QUEEN OF THE ^VOODS 24 » 

“if like me you had seen her burst into tears 
when I told her of Séjournantes death. She did 
not care that I was present to witness her sor- 
row. My presence made no difference to her. It 
made me feel how little she cared for me!” 

“You love her then very much?” asked the ab- 
be, an almost imperceptible smile playing about 
his lips. 

“Yes, I love her,” he cried. “But,” he contin- 
ued, regretting his frankness, “I am very foolish 
to allow you to know of my love, since Reine 
does not love me at all.” 

A pause ensued during which the priest took a 
pinch of snuff. 

“M. de Buxieres, ” he said with the air of an 
oracle, “Claudet is dead — and the dead, like the 
absent, are in the wrong. Moreover, who knows 
but that you are mistaken as to the nature of 
Reiners grief? I will find out to-day. Good 
evening, keep still and be prudent.” 

Thereupon the priest left him, but instead of 
returning to the parsonage, he turned his steps 
toward La Thuiliere. 


250 QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 

Notwithstanding Margaret’s objections, he ex- 
ercised his pastoral authority and sought out 
Reine. 

What he said to her did not pass beyond the 
room in which the conversation took place. He 
must have found words with which to soften her 
sorrow, for when he was gone, the girl descend- 
ed to the garden with a placid, though melan- 
choly face. 

She remained amongst the rose-bushes a long 
time, but her thoughts were not bitter, for a 
wonderful calmness had settled upon her, like a 
healing balm. 


Several days later the bells of Vivey rang, an- 
nouncing a mass was to be said in memory of 
Claudet. The Great Huntsman having been be- 
loved by all in the country, a large concourse 
assembled in front of the church — companions of 
the chase, woodmen, the makers of wooden 
shoes, the inhabitants of farms in the surround- 
ing country, no one was absent. 

The nave was not large enough to hold them 


QUEEN OF THE IVOODS 251 

all and many were obliged to remain without. 
Arbeltier, the village carpenter, had made a cat- 
afalque, which stood, draped in black and sur- 
rounded by tapers, at the steps of the high al- 
tar. Upon the coffin lay armfuls of wild flowers 
sent from La Thuiliere, exhaling an aromatic 
odor. Abbe Pernot, in his mourning robes, offi- 
ciated. Manette Séjournant’ s grief was very 
noisy, but she received less sympathy than Reine 
Vincart. The black garments of the kneeling 
girl heightened her pallor. She did not utter a 
sound, but by the contraction of her lips, the 
quivering of her chin, one could see that she was 
stifling her sobs. Occasionally, too, a tear 
sparkled on her lashes and rolled down her pale 
cheek. From the church- warden’s pew, in which 
he sat alone, Julien de Buxieres saw with anger 
the mute eloquence of that concentrated sorrow 
and felt the pangs of jealousy more keenly than 
ever. He envied the fate ot that man mourned 
with so dignified a tenderness. 

Again Buxieres was tormented by the mystery 
of that attachment so deep and so evident. 


252 QUEEN OF THE WOODS 

"She loved Claudet, for she mourns him," he 
repeated, "and if she loved him why did she re- 
ject him and drive the unhappy fellow to de- 
spair?" 

After the absolution, the entire assembly 
passed before Julien to the catafalque. When 
Reine Vincart’s turn came, she held out her hand 
to M. de Buxieres, at the same time looking at 
him so sadly yet so kindly that he became con- 
fused. 

That glance, that confident pressure of the 
hand, seemed to him like an appeal, like an en- 
couragement to speak. When the men and women 
were dispersing, without troubling himself as to 
what they would say, without caring for the curi- 
ous eyes watching him, he resolved to follow 
Reine. 

Fortune favored him. Reine Vincart had chosen 
to return to the farm by a path which ran along 
the woods and the park inclosure. Julien entered 
the castle precipitately, crossed the gardens and 
followed within the grounds an alley parallel 
with the path without, hidden from view by the 



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QUEEN OF THE H^OODS 253 

lime and nut trees. Between the branches the 
young man could see the black gown of Reine 
who was walking along rapidly. At the end of 
the inclosure he pushed open a gate and en- 
tered the forest path. Upon seeing him before 
her, Reine seemed more surprised than dis- 
pleased. She paused for a moment and then con- 
tinued on her way. When she passed him, he 
said: 

"Mile. Reine, will you permit me to accompany 
you to La Thuiliere?” 

"I should be glad to have 5^ou, ’’ she replied 
briefly. She anticipated that something decisive 
was about to take place and her voice trembled. 
Buxieres walked beside Reine but he seemed in 
no hurry to speak, and the silence was only bro- 
ken by the flight of a bird or the rustling of the 
leaves. 

"Reine, " Julien suddenly began, "you just gave 
me 5^our hand so kindly, that I decided to speak 
plainly to you. I love you. Reine, and have 
loved you a long time, but I have been so accus- 
tomed to keeping my thoughts to myself, that I 


254 QUEEN OF THE H^OODS 

have not dared to tell you. That will explain 
to you my passion and absurd inconsistencies. 
While I hesitated another took my place. Al- 
though he is dead, I know you love him.” 

Reine listened to his words with bowed head, 
half-closed eyes and throbbing pulses. 

'T have never loved him in the manner you 
suppose,’’ she replied laconically. 

Julien’ s blue eyes sparkled. Another pause 
followed Reine’ s words. They had reached the 
fields of Planche au Vacher. 

"Why, then, did you weep for him?’’ 

A melancholy smile hovered for a moment 
about Reine’ s rosy lips. 

"Are you jealous of my tears?” she asked. 

"Yes," he cried, "I love you so entirely that 1 
am jealous of Claudet ! Since his death grieved 
you so deeply, he must have been dearer to you 
than those who survive him.” 

"You should not think so," she said softly, 
"since I refused to marry him.” 

He shook his head and seemed still doubtful. 

Then she thought that if she did not wholly 


QUEEhi OF THE H^OODS 255 

reassure Julien by telling him the truth, he 
would be miserable. She knew that she was be- 
loved and she wished to be loved with security. 

Obeying Abbe Pernot’s injunctions, she leaned 
toward Julien and crimson with shame, with tear- 
ful eyes, she whispered in his ear the secret of 
her relationship with Claudet. That confidence 
was murmured so low that it could almost have 
been confounded with the humming of the insects 
and the song of the larks. 

The sun shone brightly. The woods were as 
gay and as full of flowers as upon the^ day on 
which Julien manifested his love with such mad 
violence in the collier^ s cottage. 

Scarcely had the last words of that avowal died 
away upon Reiners lips, when Julien de Buxieres 
encircling her with his arms, gently kissed her 
eyes — and that time Reine did not repulse him. 


THE END 



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They are for sale at all bookstores and on all railroad trains, 

LAIRD 6 * LEE, Publishers, Chicago, III. 














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